Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn - Expansion _____________________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC) & Throne of Bhaal (BG2 Expansion, PC) FAQ/Walkthrough _____________________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ May 18, 2009 Version 8.72 Written by: Dan Simpson Email: dsimpson.faqs@gmail.com Use this subject: Baldur's Gate II v 8.72 (emails with improper subjects MAY BE DELETED!) Email Policy: (read before emailing me!) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Got a question? Check the Frequently Asked Questions section first (it's before the walkthrough) to see if your question is already answered. If you see any mistakes, or have anything that you want to add please email me! I will, of course, give you full credit for your addition, and be eternally grateful to you. Email addresses are not posted in the FAQ, unless you specifically state that you want it to be. ______________________________________Notes____________________________________ You will find the most up to date version of this FAQ at: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ http://www.supercheats.com/ http://www.neoseeker.com/ I also have an Item List FAQ & a Class FAQ both of which you can also find at GameFAQs. If you're having any sort of technical problem with the game, there are some patches you should consider getting: BG2: http://www.bioware.com/games/shadows_amn/support/patches/ ToB: http://www.bioware.com/games/throne_bhaal/support/patches/ Please patch your game. The duplicated NPC bug when you go down the stairs is fixed in the patch. Please stop emailing me about it. There has been some fan made work in fixing the game, which you can find here: http://www.gibberlings3.net/ This FAQ looks best in a fixed-width font, such as Courier New. This Document is Copyright 2000-2009 by Dan Simpson Baldur's Gate II is Copyright 2000 by Bioware/Black Isle/Interplay BG2: Throne of Bhaal is Copyright 2001 by Bioware/Black Isle/Interplay I am not affiliated with Bioware, Black Isle, Interplay or anyone who had anything to do with the creation of this game. This FAQ may be posted on any site so long as NOTHING IS CHANGED and you EMAIL ME telling me that you are posting it. You may not charge for, or in any way profit from this FAQ. _______________________________________________________________________________ __________________ What's New in 8.72: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Some very minor edits. For a complete Version History, check out the Final Words Section at the end of the FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To navigate quickly, double click the code, press CTRL-C, then CTRL-F, CTRL-V and ENTER! I. [NTRDCT] Introduction II. [WHTSNW] What's New in Baldur's Gate II III. [THRNFB] Throne of Bhaal Information IV. [MDNFRM] Tweaking Baldur's Gate II V. [CRTNGM] Creating a Main Character (or a Party) VI. [CMPNNS] Companions VII. [GMPLYS] Gameplay Strategies and Tricks VIII. [GNRLMN] General Monster Fighting Strategies VIII.1 [GLMSVI] Golems VIII.2 [DMNSV2] Demons VIII.3 [NDDSV3] Undead VIII.4 [DRGNSS] Dragons VIII.5 [NMYSPL] Enemy Spellcasters VIII.6 [BHLDRS] Beholders VIII.7 [MNDFLY] Mind Flayers VIII.8 [WRWLVS] Werewolves [FRQNTL] Frequently Asked Questions [WLKTHR] Walkthrough 1. [RNCSDN] Chapter 1: Irenicus' Dungeon 1.1 [DNGLV2] Irenicus' Dungeon Level 2 2. [WKNSPR] Chapter 2: Waukeen's Promenade 2.1 [THSLMS] The Slums 2.2 [BTWNRS] Between Areas 2.3 [DRNSHL] De'Arnise Hold 2.4 [WNDSPR] Windspear Hills 2.5 [THPLNR] The Planar Sphere 2.6 [THGRVY] The Graveyard 2.7 [CTYGTE] City Gate 2.8 [THBRDG] The Bridge 2.9 [GVRNMN] Government District 2.10 [MRHLLS] Umar Hills 2.11 [TMPLRN] Temple Ruins 2.12 [TMPLDS] Temple District 2.13 [THSWRS] The Sewers 2.14 [THDCKS] The Docks 2.15 [TRDMTT] Trademeet 3. [THGLDW] Chapter 3: The Guild War 3.1 [WRKNGF] Working for the Shadow Thieves 3.2 [WKNGFB] Working for Bodhi 4. [BRNNLW] Chapter 4: Brynnlaw 4.1 [SPLLHL] Spellhold 4.2 [MZBNTH] Maze beneath Spellhold 4.3 [SCPFRS] Escape from Spellhold 4.4 [SHGNCT] Sahuagin City 5. [THNDRK] Chapter 5: The Underdark 5.1 [STNTHA] Ust Natha (Drow City) 5.2 [BHLDRC] Beholder City 5.3 [THLLTH] The Illithid Lair 5.4 [XTFRTU] Exit from the Underdark 6. [BCKTAT] Chapter 6: Back to Athkatla 6.1 [3NWARS] Three New Areas 7. [SLDNSS] Chapter 7: Suldanessellar 7.1 [TH9HLS] The Nine Hells X1. [STRNGH] STRONGHOLD Walkthroughs X2. [THLMTD] The Limited Wish Adventure [THRNFB] Throne of Bhaal Walkthrough 1. [WTCHRK] Watcher's Keep 2. [GRVFTN] Grove of the Ancients 3. [SRDSHH] Saradush 4. [GRMNRR] Gromnir 5. [YGSHRA] Yaga Shura 6. [MKTHRN] Amkethran 6.1 [SNDFMN] Sendai 6.2 [BZGLAA] Abazigal 7. [BLTHZR] Balthazar 8. [THFBHL] Throne of Bhaal [PPNDCS] Appendices A. [CMPLTK] Complete Kit Descriptions B. [CHRTSA] Charts & Analysis > [THVNGM] Thieving Money Charts > [DLWLDN] Dual Wielding Analysis C. [CHTSSS] Cheats D. [TRNRSN] Trainers and Editors E. [MNLCRR] Manual Corrections & Addendums F. [BGSZS1] Bugs G. [STRNGT] Strange Things [FNLWRD] Final Words.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. [NTRDCT] Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Baldur's Gate, your character faced the harsh light of reality. Pushed violently out of your home after the death of your foster father, you had to discover the truth of his killing, and your own past. What you discovered was that you were the offspring of the deceased Lord of Murder, the dark god Bhaal. He had foreseen his own imminent demise and so had spread his seed across the land. You were one of those children. So too was the evil Sarevok, the murderer of Gorion. He sought to become the new Lord of Murder, and sought to start a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn. It would not matter who won this war... so long as people died by the thousands. Fortunately for the world you were there to stop Sarevok and end his schemes. But the world doesn't stop for one heroic deed. Soon after your adventures around Baldur's Gate a mysterious force captures your adventuring party. Could this be another spawn of Bhaal? Or perhaps something worse... Baldur's Gate II: The Shadows of Amn takes place just a few months after the events of Baldur's Gate. You have been captured and placed in a cage. All your equipment and money is gone. Your companions have been scattered. Who is behind this? And more importantly... why? There are two "bonus" CD's out there, one people got with the Collector's Edition and another for Preordering (either from EBworld or from the Interplay Store). These add new shops and items. You can also download these files from http://www.sorcerers.net/index.shtml (you can also check out the Frequently Asked Questions for more information) Collector's Disc: Aurora's Emporium in the Adventurer's Mart Sells all manner of Torment related items, such as Dak'kon's Zerth Blade and Vhailor's Helm. Best yet, it has the almighty Robe of Vecna. Talk to Deidre in the back of the Adventurer's Mart. Preorder Disc: Joluv in the Copper Coronet Sells all manner of Icewind Dale related items, such as Hrothgar's Axe and the Defender of Easthaven. You can just use the cheats to create the merchants (see the Cheats section if you don't know how to do it): CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("wmart1") CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("wmart2") to make the two merchants appear in the current area. [from John Howard] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. [WHTSNW] What's New in Baldur's Gate II ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a list of what's new in Baldur's Gate II (as compared to BG): - Familiars. Mages can cast the first level spell "Find Familiar" to get themselves a little intelligent creature called a Familiar. Not only do you get a permanent little scout/thief/monster, but you get a bonus to your Mage's HP as well. If your Familiar has 24 HP, then you get +12 HP. - Strongholds. Each class gets their own specific stronghold to call their own. A fighter gets a castle, a bard gets a playhouse and a thief gets a thieves' guild. - New Playable Race: Half-Orc. Half-orcs get a bonus to their strength and constitution and a penalty to their intelligence and charisma. - New Playable Classes: Monk, Barbarian and Sorcerer. Monk. The Monk is one of the more interesting new classes. They are very skilled at fighting without weaponry, and as they go up in levels their fists grow in power. At the 14th level they start gaining Magic Resistance. They also have other special abilities, such as Lay on Hands faster movement and some thief skills. The drawback? They can't wear armor or use two-handed weaponry. Barbarian. The Barbarian is a brute compared to the fighter. More vicious but less refined. He gets more HP, can berserk and moves faster. Drawbacks? Can't wear Full Plate or Plate Mail, and cannot gain more than Specialized in Proficiencies. Sorcerer. Normal mages have to first learn a spell, then memorize it, then spend time to cast the spell. The Sorcerer does none of these. They simply get a set number of spells per level and can cast a number of spells. This works more like "mana" systems of other games. - New sub-classes, called Kits. These represent different philosophies within each discipline. For example, the Wizard Slayer (Fighter) won't wear magic items, but gains a bonus magic resistance and can disrupt magic spells permanently. For more information see the Kits section in the Appendix. - More thief skills, such as Set Trap, Detect Illusion and more. - More spells, including Delayed Blast Fireball and Time Stop. - Gem bags to hold gems and necklaces, Scroll cases to hold spells and parchments and Bags of Holding to hold everything else. - Bigger, fiercer monsters, including Dragons, Beholders and Liches. - Better resolution. The game officially supports up to 800x600, but unofficially it can go up much, much higher. - Higher experience cap, set at 2.95 million experience points allowing your character to become as gods. (not quite, but that sure sounds good doesn't it?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. [THRNFB] Throne of Bhaal Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Throne of Bhaal is the official Expansion Pack to Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. It has one area (Watcher's Keep) that can be reached in either game, and many other areas that take place after the events in BG2. ToB can be purchased in any store that sold BG2. Once you enter the Expansion areas (with the exception of Watcher's Keep) you cannot return to the original game areas. What's New in Throne of Bhaal: ------------------------------ - TAB key will now highlight doors, containers and items for you. (use it often!) - Wild Mage kit. Just like a mage, but with one key difference, Wild Surges. These are near unpredictable alterations of the magic. It might just make you itchy (or your enemies itchy) or it could even change your gender. You just never know. - New areas. - Completes the Baldur's Gate saga. - Experience Cap set much higher at 8,000,000. This allows most characters to get to level 40. - Many new items, and more items that can be built from other items. - More spells. - You can now remove spells from your spellbook. This is intended to get rid of unwanted spells when you can't learn any more. Tip: If you have duplicate Spell Scrolls, learn the spell once, then Erase it, then learn it again. This way you get the experience twice! - New high level abilities (HLA) for level 20+ characters. These abilities are extremely strong and useful, such as Deathblow, Whirlwind attack and Summon Planetar. - Evil clerics can Turn Paladins along with Undead. (which adds an interesting conflict when you have Viconia and Keldorn in the same party) - Cloak of Mirroring no longer reflects spells back to their caster, merely blocks the spells. David Gaider (one of the senior designers of ToB) has released a few minor additions to Throne of Bhaal, which you can find at Baldurdash: http://www.baldurdash.org/ToB/TOBtweaksandcheats.html They include new Bhaalspawn abilities, and tougher Demogorgon and Balthazar battles. Baldurdash: http://www.baldurdash.org/ The Wish Spell -------------- The WISH Spell is much like its lesser brother, the Limited Wish, but a whole lot more powerful. As such it is very tricky to use. The Djinn you summon is pretty much out to get you, so having a good WISDOM is essential. 18 or more will get you the best responses, 9 or worse will get you some pretty awful responses. However, which wishes you get is also partly random. He then picks from a list of wishes that you can get (not all will be what you want), and if you have really bad wisdom, you'll be picking from a list of nothing but bad choices! Here is a list of all the wishes, sorted from the really bad to the sorta awful to the surprisingly good: 'Improved Haste' on all enemies in the area. Level Drain two levels from each party member. Bring a 'Meteor Swarm' down upon the caster. Temporarily remove half of the caster's HP. Caster loses all memorized spells. Party loses 10,000 gp. Temporarily reduce the Strength of all party members to 3. Temporarily reduce the Dexterity of all party members to 3. Temporarily reduce the Constitution of all party members to 3. Temporarily reduce the Wisdom of all party members to 3. Temporarily reduce the Intelligence of all party members to 3. Temporarily reduce the Charisma of all party members to 3. Heal all enemies in the area. Temporarily remove 15% of all party members' HPs. Summon an extra hostile monster into the area. Everyone in the area, both party members and enemies, become intoxicated. 'Breach' on everyone in the area, including the party. Blow all people, including party members, away from the caster. Heal everyone, party members and enemies included. Temporarily set Strength to 18 for everyone in the area, including enemies. 'Miscast Magic' on everyone in the area, including party members. 'Magic Resistance' on everyone in the area, including enemies. 'Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting' on everyone in the area, including the party. Incur bad luck on everyone in the area, including party members. 'Silence' on everyone in the area, including party members. 'Haste' everyone in the area, including enemies. 'Improved Haste' on all party members. 'Breach' on all enemies in the area. 'Restoration' on all party members. Raise all party members' characteristics to 25 for 4 rounds. 'Resurrection' on all dead party members. All party members gain the temporary ability 'Greater Deathblow'. All party members gain the temporary ability 'Hardiness'. Create a random wand in caster's inventory. Create a random potion in the caster's inventory. Make it as if the entire party has just rested a full night and re-memorized all their spells. Cast a double-length 'Time Stop' and 'Improved Alacrity' on the caster. Upgraded Familiars: ------------------- Familiars are upgraded when you complete the regular game by beating Irenicus. You can now "feed" the familiars to heal them. You can also ask them for advice. If you want to see the old BG2 familiar list, it is in the Gameplay Strategies section below. Alignment Familiar AC HP Abilities --------------- ------------- -- -- ---------------------------------- Lawful Good Pseudo Dragon 0 48 35% magic resistance, renders victims unconscious, casts Blur, Ghost Armor, Detect Illusion, 2 attacks per round Neutral Good Pseudo Dragon 0 48 (same as above) Chaotic Good Fairy Dragon 0 24 45% magic res., casts Invisibility 10' Radius, Imp. Invisibility & Mirror Image 1/day Lawful Neutral Ferret -4 48 65% magic res., 95% Pickpocket, 60% Stealth, 60% Detect Traps True Neutral Rabbit 1 48 85% Detect Traps, 60% Stealth, 65 magic res., 50% detect illusion always haste Chaotic Neutral Cat -4 48 Pickpocket, 99% Stealth, 65% magic res, 60% Find Traps. Lawful Evil Imp -2 48 Polymorphs, 35% magic res., poison attack, regenerates 1 HP/second Neutral Evil Dust Mephit 3 48 Casts Glitterdust 2/day, 25% magic res., Prismatic Spray, Stoneskin, 60% damage resistant, immune to fire Chaotic Evil Quasit -2 48 Casts Horror, 35% magic resist., immune to fire, cold and elec., regenerates 1 Hp/second, 3 attacks per round, attack reduces target DEX Romances in Throne of Bhaal: ---------------------------- Yep, they all are continued, even if you ended them (such as Aerie saying at the end that you should just be friends). SPOILERS Viconia > You can convince her to change her alignment (you simply have to say "good" things, like killing is wrong, etc.) Aerie > You can have a child with her Anomen > Asks to marry you Jaheira > n/a Viconia's alignment switch: When she offers to sleep with you again, turn her down because the "time isn't right", then when she asks what you think of her, be very very nice. When she asks you what it's like having the blood of Bhaal in your veins, tell her that you don't like the killing. Between meeting her wraith-brother and the destruction of Saradush (I told you there were Spoilers in here), you need to have at least ONE romance talk occur. If you skip this, you can't get her to switch alignments. When she sees the battle, tell her that you don't like it. Then when she asks if you want her to change, say yes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. [MDNFRM] Tweaking Baldur's Gate II ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tired of always knowing how to do everything in the game? Want a new challenge? Try a mod! All the significant Unofficial Add-On's (most of which are top- notch) can be found here: http://modlist.pocketplane.net/ http://www.gibberlings3.net/ http://www.spellholdstudios.com/ The first thing's that I would install are the Fixpack and the Tweak pack, both of which can be found at Gibberlings 3. These fix the remaining annoying bugs, as well as some ease of use enhancements. The tweak pack can do things like unlimited arrow stacking, and remove the experience cap. Every component is optional, so if you like one thing, but not another, you can just install what you want. If you have a widescreen monitor, be sure to pick up the widescreen mod from Gibberlings 3. Some of the Mods that I've tried: Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Combines all the Baldur's Gate games into one package. (The "third" game it refers to is Throne of Bhaal) Works really well, although there are a few bugs. (Don't memorize any new spells until you're sure that they work) It's really fun to play from Candlekeep to the Throne of Bhaal in one game. Banter Pack - Makes the NPCs more interesting. Big Picture - combines several of the largest BG2 mods into one. Includes The Darkest Day, Shadows Over Soubar, Never Ending Journey and Tortured Souls. Combine this with BGT above for a really massive gaming experience. Dark Side of the Sword Coast for BG-BGT - technically a BG1 mod, but played in the BG2 engine through BGT. David Gaider (one of the senior designers of ToB) has released a few minor additions to Throne of Bhaal, which you can find at Baldurdash: http://www.baldurdash.org/ToB/TOBtweaksandcheats.html Freedom's Reign / Reign of Virtue Gibberlings3 Tweak Pack - awesome, awesome mod. All of its components are optional, so you can pick the ones you like. Some of which are: Remove Helmet Animations Imoen/Nalia Avatar Change (to a mage) Disable Portrait Icons Added by Equipped Items Change Avatar when Wearing Robes or Armor (to mage or fighter) Add More Bags of Holding Multiple Strongholds Bonus Merchants (from the Pre-order & Collector's edition) Remove Experience Cap Allow thieving in armor (with appropriate penalties, of course) Allow mage spellcasting in armor (with penalties, of course) Infinite arrow stacking Infinite potion stacking And so very much more! Imoen Romance One Pixel Productions - Redoes the artwork in the game to be more like BG1. I liked going back to the original "paper doll" look from the first game. Secret of Bone Hill (BGT) Unfinished Business - puts several quests and things back into the game that were dropped by Bioware. If you need a walkthrough for the Unofficial Add-On, the Darkest Day, you can get Suburban Jub's fine walkthrough here: http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. [CRTNGM] Creating a Main Character (or a Party) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The hardest decision in the game is also the first decision, and the one that has the farthest reaching effects as well. What you decide here will change everything and affect how easy your game is. What Class Do You Play?? Such a simple question, but no easy answers. A lot of which class you want to play has to do with your individual style as a player. If you like just rushing into the thick of battle without planning, maybe a Barbarian is the way to go. Meticulous planner? Think mage. Finesse fighter? Kensai or Monk. Trick: When you are rolling the "Attributes" for your character, if you press CTRL-8 the game will set all your stats to 18 (and 18/00 for STR). This ONLY works if you already have the Debug Mode enabled (see the Cheats section below). Tip: If you're going to import from BG1, and you, like me, reloaded your BG1 game everytime you gained a level to get maximum hit points, you might be dismayed to learn that BG2 will AVERAGE OUT YOUR HIT POINTS. That's right, my level 8 Fighter got nerfed from 120 hit points to 81! The only way I found to get around this is to, when selecting a kit for your imported character, select BACK instead of a kit. You keep your hit points but lose the ability to take a kit. Favorite Kits: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fighter -- > Kensai (great fighters, and when dualled to a mage become extremely powerful, I've also heard good things about Kensai/Thief combinations) Mage -- > Conjurer (you lose some spells, but you can summon with the best of them! This is more subjective than the others) Druid -- > Shapeshifter (If you've played Cernd then you know that he is one of the weakest HUMANS, but when he becomes a werewolf he is very powerful) Priest -- > Priest of Lathander (This is subjective, I just like the Boon of Lathander spell) Bard -- > Skald (this has a LOT of good effects, and only one bad effect a low pickpocket score) Thief -- > Swashbuckler (this guy is awesome, practically a fighter!) Ranger -- > Archer (gives this guy a bow, and 5 proficiency in it and you have the best sniper in the game) Paladin -- > Inquisitor (used to be Cavalier, but I changed my mind. This guy's major plus is his Dispel Magic ability, which he casts at twice his level, plus with immunities to Hold and Charm) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keep in mind that only the Protagonist (main character) can have a Familiar. So if you aren't a Mage, and can't Dual to a Mage later, no one in your game will have a Familiar. Tip: When creating a character, one thing to consider is the desirability of covering a niche that isn't handled by any of the recruitable NPCs. For example, there's no point in creating an inquisitor or ranger PC because the game already includes strong NPCs for these classes. On the other hand, the game doesn't include any thieves capable of standing toe-to-toe with enemies in melee combat, so a fighter/thief would be a good choice to fill this niche. Or there's always the versatile ranger/cleric, who is able to cast druidic as well as clerical spells because of a quirk in the BG2 engine. [from jsaving] Multi-Class and Dual-Class options: ----------------------------------- When you multi-class you are 2 or 3 classes simultaneously. Your experience is divided among your classes, so you do level up slower, but you get the abilities of all the classes at the same time. Keep in mind that you still have to follow the rules of your class, that is, a fighter/mage still can't cast spells in armor, and a thief can't sneak in armor greater than studded leather. Then, when you get at high level, you get access to both of your class's high level abilities (HLA) at the same time. The triple classes only get some of the HLAs, for example the Fighter-Mage-Thief gets most of the Fighter and Thief HLAs but almost none of the Mage's. In dual classing, you switch from one class to another, and forevermore will gain levels only in the new class. When the new class level is higher than the old one, you gain the abilities of both again, but still only level up in the new class. Thus, depending on what level you switch over, you may only get 1 set of HLA. Trick: When you dual your main character to the Mage Class, try this. Kick everyone out of the party, then learn as many spells as you can. You gain experience for each spell you learn. I was able to gain MANY levels this way! Dual Class Note: Can't get your character to dual class? You probably don't have sufficient STATS for it. Dualling requires your character have 15 of his current class's prime STAT (i.e. STR for a Fighter) and 17 of your desired class's prime STAT (i.e. INT for a Mage). See the Frequently Asked Questions section for more details. And again, only humans may dual class. Here's the character I played through when I wrote the walkthrough: Male --> To have the romance with Viconia Half-Orc --> For the STR and CON bonuses Barbarian -> A very powerful class, gets 2 extra HP per level (over what a Fighter gets), can Rage, moves faster and at level 11 gains various weapon resistances. Lawful --> To get that high starting reputation. Good Dual Wield > Then I had him dual wield Katanas (the Celestial Fury is just awesome) and Long Swords. And here is the party I used when I wrote the walkthrough: (slight SPOILER) Me -- Barbarian, as a Half-Orc to get me 19 STR and CON, then dual wielded long swords and katanas. Very strong. Jaheira -- Fighter / Druid, The best Druid in the game since she is the only one who can Raise Dead (with Harper's Call). Viconia -- Cleric, she is an awesome cleric (much better than Anomen) plus she has natural magic resistance. Edwin -- Conjurer, the only true mage in the game, also gains a bonus to the number of spells he can cast. Not only gains the +1 spell per level as a Conjurer, but gains another +2 spells per level from his Amulet (which can't be removed). Mazzy -- Fighter, Her bow ability is her best feature, but she also has a number of extra powers (such as Courage) that I found useful. Yoshimo -- Bounty Hunter, oh sure he isn't a long term solution, but that is exactly where Imoen returns. Here's a straight-good aligned power-party: Main Character -- play as a Kensai/Mage Valygar -- Stalker dual wielding katanas, can also backstab really well. If you aren't using his backstab, drop for Mazzy. Keldorn -- The only Paladin in the game, thus the only person who can use the Holy Avenger Minsc -- The strongest character in SoA, fights well with the two handed sword, or with two weapons. Anomen -- Once you get past his bizarre personal issues, he's not that bad. Yoshimo -- To be replaced later with Imoen (or use Jan if you prefer) Note: There are several things any party should be able to do: disarm traps (thief), remove level drain (lesser restoration), and remove combat protections (breach). If the main character can't do any of these things, then the player is restricting his NPC choice set to a certain degree because he has to reserve party slots for characters with these capabilities. Playing a character that has some of these capabilities provides extra flexibility, which may be desirable if the player wants to try out a wide variety of NPCs without being "locked in" to a party composition he may not really want. [from jsaving] Attributes: ----------- STRENGTH (STR) = Melee damage and ability to hit with melee weapons DEXTERITY (DEX) = Ranged to hit, and increases Armor Class CONSTITUTION (CON) = Increases hit points per level WISDOM (WIS) = Gives bonus spells castable per day to clerics, adds lore INTELLIGENCE (INT) = Improves chance to learn spell for mages, increases maximum number of spells known per level CHARISMA (CHA) = Discounts at stores, and improved rewards for quests So, you can see that a melee fighter would want STR, DEX and CON, and has no real reason to get WIS or INT. Everyone benefits from DEX and CON. On STR, the 18/xx scores go from 01 to 00. It's easier to think of the 00 as 100. So, 18/00 is the highest possible, and better than 18/99. With CON, only warriors get use of the stat beyond 16. So, a mage with 16 CON gets just as many HP as a mage with 17 or 18 CON. But a Fighter, Ranger, Paladin or Barbarian gain a benefit on every increase in CON. Hit Points at Higher Levels: ---------------------------- For the first 9 (or 10) levels, you can gain either 4 (mage) 6 (rogue) 8 (priest) 10 (fighter) or 12 (barbarian) hit points per level. This is randomized, so you can get less. You also gain bonus hit points based on your CON (see above). However, at level 9 (or 10, depending on your class) you start to gain fewer hit points per level. This is part of the AD&D rules. So, when you gain 3 HP at level 11, this is why. No amount of reloading will fix this. The game is balanced around this fact, so you won't be weaker than your enemies. Fighters / Rangers / Paladins - normal to level 9, then +3 hp per level Priest / Druid / Monk - normal to level 9, then +2 hp per level Rogues / Bards - normal to level 10, then +2 hp per level Mages / Sorcerers - normal to level 10, then +1 hp per level Weapon Proficiencies: --------------------- Proficiencies give various bonuses, and you can place 1-5 points in each weapon. The first point simply makes you proficient so you don't suffer any penalties to hit with the weapon. You suffer a -4 to use any weapon that you lack a proficiency. points spent to hit bonus damage bonus attacks 1 (Proficient) 0 0 1 2 (Specialized) +1 +2 3/2 3 (Master) +2 +2 3/2 4 (High Master)* +2 +3 3/2 5 (Grand Master) +2 +4 3/2 * Improves weapon speed. Note: Only fighters can get all 5 proficiency points. Most classes are restricted to 1 point, while Rangers, Paladins and Barbarians can get 2 per weapon. Since there is an extra 1/2 attack at 2 points, it has the greatest benefit. There are nice weapons for each type, so choose whichever one you like, then focus in it. If you have a thief, mage or a character that cannot use a shield due to a class restriction then allocating a point or two into single weapon style will give an armour class as if equipped with a shield. Very useful but obviously must have a one-handed weapon equipped. It also increases the odds of getting a critical hit. (a roll of 19 or 20). [from Carl Wear] Charisma is your friend: ------------------------ So what does Charisma really get you? Well if you have a low charisma you may not be able to get NPC's to join you, if you pass a quest, the treasure may not be as good as it normally would be, (or there may be no treasure at all!) and shops WILL charge you more. So don't skimp out on the charisma. On the other hand, you only need ONE PERSON with good charisma, and it needn't be your main character. SPOILER: Plus, just outside of the first dungeon you find a ring that sets anyone's Charisma to 18. You will find this ring by finish the circus tent quest in the Promenade area. After maxing my reputation, I had my leader (with a charisma of 18) wear some charisma-enhancing items (nymph cloak, sword of the roses, helm of glory) to boost his charisma up to 23 before he talks to shop owners, and got a significant further discount from the increased charisma above 18. Useful for all those expensive items from the bonus CD's. [from RCL] Creating all Six Characters: ---------------------------- It is quite beneficial to play every game as a multiplayer (although it does create a bit of a hassle). It gives you the benefit of being able to create all 6 players in your party rather than depending on NPC's, and you can also Export and Import characters in and out at any time. Potentially, then, you could have a party of as many people as you want, just import and export as needed. To create a Multiplayer game just click the Multi Player button. At the next menu click "Connect". Now you have to set the type of Multi Player (the top button), using Serial is fairly easy (although it requires that you have some Networking installed...) Now click "Create Game" (whenever you are playing by yourself in the Multiplayer always use "Create Game", never use "Join Game"!). Name the session to whatever you want, and enter in your own name. Finally click "New Game". Now you can create as many characters as you want. Then once they are all created, click the little Check icon by each created characters, and then click the "Done" button. If I created six characters, this would be that party: Human Monk -- These guys are just awesome at the higher levels. Human Kensai -- To be dualled to a Mage at level 9 or 12, can be very powerful Human Skald -- Bards are fun, but this one is great. Useful for the great Bard Song. At high levels gives everyone +4 to hit, damage and AC! Elf Archer -- The best ranged weapons expert in existence! This guy is ridiculously powerful. Human Swashbuckler -- A thief with great offensive abilities. Human Sorcerer -- Great magical abilities, don't have to memorize or learn spells. Or I might replace the Monk with a Half-Orc Barbarian (or Kensai) -- A hit point powerhouse. But naturally in Baldur's Gate II, I prefer to have most of my party consist of the pre-made NPC's that you find in the game. They're just more interesting to me. Warning: I don't recommend creating all SIX characters in the game. You will miss out on character specific quests (and there are a lot of these early in the game) as well as the fun interactions these characters have with each other. At most I would create 5 characters, then bring in an NPC, do their quests, then go on to the next NPC. Trick: To play with your own characters, but avoid the hassles of Multiplayer, simply copy the saved game out of the MPSAVE directory and into the SAVE directory. You can then play with your own party in the normal single player mode. [from Grack] Thoughts on Kensai/Mages and other Combinations: ------------------------------------------------ [from RCL] While I can imagine how high level Kensais can be killing machines, I do not believe they are worth it if you dual them out at level 9. At that time, compared to normal fighters they only have +3 to hit and +3 damage (plus 3 uses of the Kai ability and -2 speed factors) - which is, in other words, about an additional 15%-20% bonus depending on your stats, skills and weapons. However, this is at the expense of not being able to use missile weapons and more importantly, not being able to use bracers, gauntlets, helmets, shields and armors. Even if you, for example, use the shield amulet to make up for the horrible AC, you won't be able to utilize other abilities offered by the equipment (such as super fire protection by wearing the whole set of dragon helm/shield/armor; increased charisma with the Helm of Glory; missile/beholder ray protection from the reflection/fortress/Balduran's shields, etc.). After you dual the Kensai to a mage, the inability to use bracers and missile weapons can make him a liability to the group for a long while until he regains his Kensai abilities. A Berserker warrior will be better mage-dualling material. First of all, he is almost equivalent with a level-9 Kensai in melee abilities with his +2 Thac0/ +2 damage during his rage. In addition, during his rage he will gain 15 hp and have very important immunities (which alone IMO makes up for the Kai ability); he can use ranged weapons if you want, and he has zero limitation to his equipment - even if you don't feel like enabling/disabling your magic casting abilities with heavy armors all the time, Bracers AC3 can help a lot. Personally, I will take all these advantages and additional flexibility over the Kai ability and -2 speed factors any day. Currently I have my Berserker/mage dual wield the Celestial Fury and Dak'kon's Zerth Blade, wearing the Bracer AC3. I used the editor just to change his appearance to a mage, and wear the traveler's robe just for the looks. Looks great (especially when he attacks), and is probably the best member in my team. Editor: http://www.mud-master.com/shadowkeeper/ Other People's Party Strategies: -------------------------------- If Geoff Ulreich created all 6 characters, this is how it would look: Paladin - Inquisitor (can't dual or would start as fighter for max weapon prof.) Definitely the only worthwhile paladin kit, immunity to hold and charm are PRICELESS, as is true seeing, and paladins are typically worthless as spellcasters, healers and undead turners next to clerics anyway (hence his disadvantages aren't really). Spec. in two handed sword, style, and longbow or crossbow (or both). He's a madman with the Avenger (a DMs worst nightmare). Fighter - to be dualled to a Priest at 9th level. Grand Mastery in Warhammer for the Crom Faeyr, the rest in sling (Priests can use it). Invaluable for healing, turning, summoning fodder, and dispelling. Monk - (can't dual, wouldn't anyway) This class is even more unbalanced than in the first edition AD&D rules, truly heinous by 15th level, a dervish of destruction at 20th. Thief - Bounty Hunter to be dualled to Mage (can't dual to specialist or I would do Conjurer - Divination (their opp. sphere) spells suck) at 11th, when his special traps have the Hold ability) - also allows him to hit max level in mage. Give him longswords, two wpn style (or one if you're gonna use a bow a lot), short bow (and/or crossbow for the light crossbow of speed). This will allow you to use most of the good long swords in the game. Get set snares, F/R traps, and open locks to 100, 100, & 95 respectively, ignore the rest). Bard - Skald (can't dual or would start as a fighter) Basically for his kick-ass song, but makes a nice 3rd mage as well. Give him longsword, 2 handed sword, 2 weapon style, 2 handed sword (for the vorpal). Nice for Lore skill (saves hassle), cast Friends before shopping. Sorcerer - (can't dual or would start as a fighter) A VERY powerful mage. All the characters should have 18/00 (fighters) or 18 strengths, 18 dexs, 16 cons (18 for the fighter and paladin). Mages get 18 intelligence (incl bard and bounty), and one of them needs an 18 (or close) wis for limited wishes. Priest needs 18 wis as well, and paladin and bard should be 18 charisma (save that ring slot for something better). Only took me 2 hrs to get 6 characters with the above stats. I made them all Lawful or Neutral Good to allow 20 rep. Have the Sorc. as your main character for the find familiar spell (use a scroll), this will net a psuedodragon (the best familiar). This party is a bit slow until the fighter duals to cleric (lack of healing), but this doesn't take long at all, and soon after it is unstoppable. Also, Archers are WAY overrated. By the by, my first character (single player) was a kensai as well, but used two longswords. Foregoing a second sword for a measly AC bonus is silly, he was AC -6 by the end (using the shield amulet, which has more than enough charges to carry you through the end of the game. Also, not much lived long enough to swing more than once at him; he splattered creatures faster than Keldorn and Jahiera combined. That's 9 (NINE) attacks per round if improved hasted and using the dancing sword, 8 if you think the sword doesn't count :), 4 normally (still obscene). The best defense is, well, you get the picture...I was going to dual him to mage, but was having far too much fun with him as it was, and already had 3 mages by that point. My sorcerer spell picks: I have seen many people on the BBSs asking what spells their sorcerers should learn, especially at the higher levels, and I have also seen some truly awful replies. That said, here are my picks. 1st: -magic missile* -identify (even with a bard, no other great picks) -shield 2 others ( I did protection from petrification and charm person) Editor's Note: I would take Chromatic Orb here. It has some awesome powers and grows in strength as your sorcerer levels up. 2nd: -melf's acid arrow -mirror image -knock(*) -resist fear* (actually an area effect, contrary to what it says in the manual) -horror/web/stinking cloud (pick one - I chose horror since it allows you to take enemies out of action without affecting your party) 3rd: -fireball* __ -dispel magic ]__* -remove magic__] -haste 4th: -ice storm -minor sequencer* -stone skin* -minor globe of invulnerability 5th: -breach********** -chaos* -cloudkill* -lower resistance The above are not set in stone, but really are the best picks for a well rounded sorcerer, to be used for heavy artillery, fighting enhancement, and dispelling (with some defense set aside, mainly for the contingency spells). The offense is balanced for single target and area attack spells; the area attacks are balanced between damage-dealing and disabling (the latter of which won't hurt your party, good for in-close fighting. For the last three levels, I will list a small group of possibilities, with the first 3 (6th), 3 (7th), and 2 (8th) spells listed being the ones I chose. I found summoning spells to be fairly useless later in the game, especially against mages (death fog and death spell), with the possible exceptions of the nishruu and hakeashar. 6th: -contingency* -improved haste -pierce magic* -(chain lightning) -(death fog) -(summon nishruu) 7th: -delayed blast fireball -mass invisibility* -spell sequencer* -(limited wish (depending on your Wis)) -(ruby ray of reversal) -(summon hakeashar) -(khelben's warding whip)(great spell, but...no room:)) 8th: -incendiary cloud -spell trigger (I actually chose pierce shield, now regretting it) -(pierce shield) -(simulacrum) Again, these are not set in stone; they are just the spells I found my mages using over and over again the first time I played). The 2nd level knock is essential, by the way, if you use the party I suggested (monk or cleric detects traps, sorc knocks to unlock, paladin triggers traps until your dualled thief/mage hits 750,000 exp and gets his thief skills back). I marked with an * the spells I thought absolutely necessary. Brian Camley has a spell recommendation: I'd also like to add a suggestion for Sorcerer spell picks - I used "protection from magical energy" - with this spell, I gave 100% protection from magic energy to all my characters, making the first battle with Irenicus a breeze... yes, it isn't as good as the scrolls of protection from magic, but you can cast spells, while being protected from a lot of damage that's coming your way. Max Chen has some spell picks of his own: 1. Identify is a waste to learn cause you can use a scroll, pay a shop or get identify glasses to do it for you and if your lore is high enough than you won't need any of those. I just stick with magic missile and chromatic orb(At lvl 10 it has possibility turn victim into stone and at lvl 12 instantly kill victim) 2. Lvl 2 Blur and Vocalize (Must-have, because once silenced your mage is useless) 3 Lvl 3 Lighting Bolt, bounce it off walls a couple time or reflect lighting protection and you will see dead body every where. Good for close combat. There is also another reason, coming up. 4. Greater Malison, no save throw and cause opponents under the influence of this spell make all saving throws at a penalty of -4. Combine this with lvl 5 lower resistance. Otiluke's Resilient Sphere can be use both as offensive and defensive. Offensive is to take 1 enemy out and Defensive protect your weak or near death party member from getting kill.(Not that major but somewhat useful) Wizard eye is a very good spell for lvl 4. Heck it's better than all other summon spell. Wizard eye can tank like no other, as long you get the monster to attack it. As far I can tell wizard eye is unkillable. Tried killing it myself and send it after lich and dragon, even with cheat instant kill. Plus it is immune to most spell and unsummon spells, I think only dispel works. Also it is good to explore with wizard eye. HEH oh yeah demilich tried to imprison wizard eye many times but fail miserably. Editor's Note: ToB eliminates most of the Wizard Eye strategies listed above. Now they die quite easily. 5. Oracle. 60' instead of 20'(book misprint?) Get rid of those invis monster. 6. Death fog instantly kill all summoned creature, regardless of hit dice or immunities(Haven't seen much computer summon monster) but hey they sure use it on my summon creatures. If P.K. created 6 characters, this is how he would do it: Cleric/Ranger Half/Elf (I love those too) Fighter Human (Dualled to Cleric at level 9) Fighter Human (Dualled to Druid at level 9) Fighter Human (Dualled to mage at level 10) Fighter Human (Dualled to mage at level 9) Thief Human (Dualled to mage at level 12) This team is really cool, plenty of hit points for everybody, weapon grandmastery for most of the characters and everyone of the team is a spellcaster! (This is especially useful in BG2, since there are A LOT of spells and one gains XP when learning them) The (minor) drawbacks of this team is its (relative) weakness in the transition period but if you look closer you will see that you will always have at least 3 strong melee fighters in the team, and you can always live without a trap disarming thief (especially in BG2) since you can do the quests that do not imply dungeon crawling meanwhile. If jayhc created all 6, he would do this: I see that you have other people's full-party strategies on your FAQ, so I thought - hey, I may as well send in my own. It may not have as much damage-causing potential at the end of the game as, say, a bunch of fighters dualled to mages and clerics, but I would bet that it can hold its own just the same and would be more easily pulled off, to boot. 1) Dwarfish Berserker with grand mastery in axes. He should have a seventeen dexterity and a nineteen constitution; a high strength is preferable, too, but not necessary for the sheer tanking power. Give him a fortress shield, dexterity gauntlets, some variant of full plate, a spell-bouncing cloak, a ring of regeneration he could well have 11 or 12 ac by a fairly reasonable level, and have amazing saving throws and hit points to go along (at level nineteen, his median amount of hp with a nineteen constitution would near 125; and most people would take steps to be certain that it's at least somewhat more than that). Heh. He'll just sit there and soak up blows. For extra fun, let him don that shape-changing cloak found in the sewers and turn into a troll for a moment or two when he seems near the brink of death. 2) Half-orc Kensai. I would either give him grand mastery in two-handed sword, and specialization in two-handed weapon style; or grand mastery in long sword, and mastery in two-weapon style. He would get an extra attack per round with the latter, but the former would give him extra damage and double the chance of scoring a critical hit and a half-orc with a nineteen strength and grand mastery in two-handed sword who scores a critical hit with, say, Lilarcor ouch. The Berserker could soak up damage and lead enemies away, while the Kensai demolished everything in sight. 3) An elven Stalker with specialization in long bow and long sword, and mastery in two-weapon fighting. If possible, give him a nineteen dexterity: this increases his ability to hide in the shadows by a considerable amount; and that is crucial to any strategy involving him. At level twelve he gains the ability to haste himself so he can haste up, hide in the shadows, and backstab any annoyingly difficult enemies who don't have too many friends around. With a girdle of strength and a successful backstab at level nine or ten, he does at least forty-five or so damage - keep him perpetually hidden for extra backstabbing fun. His main drawback for which he is constantly being knocked - is a lack of metallic armor, but plenty of magical leather-class protection is available during the course of the game. His nineteen dexterity makes him quite an arrow slinger, too. 4) A half-elven Ranger/Cleric, whose physical attributes I shall leave open to suggestion. My choice of this no doubt explains itself: he has access to both ranger and cleric spells; he offers a decent fighting ability, in a pinch; he can hide in the shadows to avoid any unnecessary conflict until he wants to reveal himself (so as to heal team-members and not be killed himself beforehand). Add to this holy power, iron skin, negative plane protection, draw upon holy might, and a disruptor mace you've got yourself an undead-killing machine. A human ranger could dual to cleric if you don't want to end the game at 13/14. A Ranger dualled at nine, could still reach twenty in Cleric. 5) A gnome Illusionist/Thief. There is never any need, in BG2, to have a straight thief: this alternative gives you hefty magical power in addition to more than enough ability to perform necessary thieving tasks (finding and disarming traps, and unlocking doors and chests). A thief hidden in the shadows can't actively detect traps; but an invisible thief can, and this power makes him ever so much more valuable than a meandering normal thief. 6) A human Sorcerer, who can launch chromatic orb and magic missile all day long. Give him breach and greater malison - and enemies are yours to try practically any magical strategy you'd like. You could replace the stalker with an inquisitor, to make mage-killing even easier; or a cavalier, to have effective leadership and ridiculous immunities. You could also try an archer, here I've not tested the kit myself; but I'm told it's ridiculously powerful, at any given level. A monk would be nice, but is a veritable liability until level fifteen or so. Throne of Bhaal Notes: ---------------------- [from Duncan Clay] The High-Level Class Abilities added in Throne of Bhaal gives many new possibilities to character creation. For example the Rogue High-Level Class Ability "Use Any Item" allows them to use any weapon and shield, wear any armor and helmet, use wands and cast spells from scrolls. But it goes beyond that, a dual class Kensai/Thief can now wear Full Plate Armor, have a familiar and wield the Paladin sword "Carsomyr". Since THAC0 progression stops at level 22, there isn't much difference between a Level 22 Fighter with THAC0 0 and a Level 40 Fighter with THAC0 0. A Level 40 Thief would have a THAC0 of 10 the same as a Level 22 Thief. This suggests Dual and Multiclass characters are the way to go. Here are some outstanding high-level character abilities Level 39 Kensai - THAC0 & Damage Bonus = 13 (Melee Weapons) Level 33 Archer - THAC0 & Damage Bonus = 10 (Missile Weapons) Level 40 Wizard Slayer - Magic Resistance = 84 Level 40 Monk - Base Armor Class = -6 (-19 vs. Missiles) Level 40 Monk - Lay Hands heals 80 hit points Level 40 Swashbuckler - Armor Class Bonus = 9 Level 40 Swashbuckler - THAC0 & Damage Bonus = 8 Level 21 Assassin - Backstab Multiplier = x7 Level 25 Bard - base Lore ability = 250 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. [CMPNNS] Companions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some companions don't like each other. For example, Minsc and Edwin will eventually come to blows. Anomen (if he fails his test) will try to hurt Aerie. Reputation Note: Good characters will leave your party if your reputation is too low (1 or 2), and Evil characters will leave your party if your reputation gets too high (19 or 20). When they leave, they cannot be re-acquired. Proficiencies Note: When I list the proficiencies the character has, that is not a recommendation as to what I think they should have, those are the profs the character starts with. These are listed by the level you get the character at. If you want to decide on your own proficiencies, it is always better to get that character as soon as possible. Irenicus' Dungeon Characters: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Imoen S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 18 16 17 11 16 Human Thief/Mage Neutral Good Imoen is your old childhood friend from Candlekeep. In the first game she was a Thief, and now she has dual classed to become a Mage. SPOILER: Don't let Imoen memorize any spells as she won't be with your party for much longer. Profs: [*] Dagger, Dart, Quarterstaff, Shortbow Grade: B+ She is the third best thief you can get in the game and the second best mage. This averages out well, especially since this game doesn't require that much out of a thief. I list her as "third best thief" because she can't level up in it anymore. Minsc S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18/93 16 16 8 6 9 Human Ranger Chaotic Good Minsc is a little loopier than last you saw him. This may be due to the death of Dynaheir -- whom he was sworn to protect -- but he seems to rely far too much on Boo, his pet hamster. Minsc will adopt Aerie as his witch if they are in the party at the same time. Then when she is injured or killed, Minsc has some... reactions. If kicked out: You can find Minsc again in the Copper Coronet Profs: Lvl 7 - [**] Long Bow, Mace, Two Handed Sword, Two Handed Style Lvl 9 - [*] Axe [**] Long Bow, Mace, Two Handed Sword, Two Handed Style Lvl 12 - [**] Axe, Long Bow, Mace, Two Handed Sword, 2 Hand Style Grade: A- Minsc is one of the best investments you can have in the game. He is the strongest of the NPC's and has decent abilities as well. Plus he soon begins learning Priest spells which further his power. His Berserker Rage ability also makes him immune to the nasty spell Imprison. Jaheira S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 17 17 10 14 15 Half-Elf Fighter/Druid True Neutral Jaheira has some problems with authority, which in this case would be you. She believes that she should be leader. She is also a member of the Harper's, a "do-gooder" organization that also claims Elminster as a member. If kicked out: You can find Jaheira in the southwest of the Docks district, near the Harper's secret base. Profs: [*] Quarterstaff, Scimitar, Sling, Sword & Shield Style [**] Club Grade: B A good solid performer, but nothing to write home about. There are better Priests out there, and better Fighters out there as well. The best reason to keep her is her Druid abilities as she is the best druid for some time. At the moment you really have no choice but to take her. Jaheira has a couple of advantages that aren't immediately apparent. She's the only druid in the game who can raise dead (Harper's call) and can also wear the full range of armor (because of her fighter multiclass). She's also the only druid in the game who can eventually select the fighter's critical strike ability at high levels, which is incredibly powerful when combined with touch-range spells like harm. [from jsaving] Yoshimo S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 18 16 13 10 14 Human Bounty Hunter True Neutral Yoshimo, feared by all, somehow managed to get himself captured and thrown into this dungeon with the rest of you. Why Irenicus would be interested in him is beyond me. If kicked out: You can find Yoshimo in the Copper Coronet. Profs: Lvl 7 - [*] Dagger, Katana, Shortbow, Single Weapon Style Lvl 12 - [*] Dagger, Dart, Katana, Shortbow, Single Weapon Style Grade: B+ There are several reasons to like Yoshimo: First he is the best thief in the game (he is the ONLY pure thief class and has a good Dex score as well) and second he can Dual Class to a Fighter later. If only he could dual to a mage as well... Athkatla Characters: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aerie S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 17 9 16 16 14 Elf Cleric/Mage Lawful Good Aerie is a winged elf. Well former winged elf as her wings were removed some time ago. She had been a slave before meeting up with Quayle and joining the circus. Found at: Waukeen Promenade Circus Profs: Lvl 6 - [*] Mace, Quarterstaff, Sling Lvl 7 - [*] Club, Mace, Quarterstaff, Sling Grade: C+ A cleric/mage combines all magics into one (not Druid spells, but nobody's perfect), which is an incredible bonus. Except that she has rather weak stats. She doesn't excel anywhere, no single one stat stands out. As such she isn't worth keeping around for very long. Anomen S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18/52 10 16 10 12 13 Human Fighter/Cleric Lawful Neutral Anomen may not be a Paladin but he is deeply involved with the Order of the Radiant Heart. He believes in Law over all other concerns, making him neither good nor evil. Found at: Copper Coronet (Slums) Profs: Lvl 6 - [*] Warhammer, Sword & Shield Style [**] Mace, Sling Lvl 10 - [*] Quarterstaff, Warhammer, Sword & Shield Style [**] Mace, Sling Grade: C+ At the point in the game when you run across this guy is just won't fit into your party. As you can see by his wisdom score he doesn't make for a good Cleric, and with his DEX score, he doesn't make that great a Fighter either. Anomen later gets a chance to "upgrade", when he can either join the Knights or fail. If he joins he gains a +4 to his Wisdom score, which improves him as a Cleric. If he fails, he becomes emotionally unstable and may attack other party members. (after a conversation, of course) Upgrade: B- Edwin S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 10 16 18 10 10 Human Mage Lawful Evil Edwin was with you on your last adventures, and he and Minsc don't like each other in the least. Edwin had wanted to kill Minsc's witch, Dynaheir, and now that she is dead, Edwin won't leave Minsc alone about it. Edwin gets the most spells of any mage, +3 for every level (1 from his Conjurer bonus, and 2 from his non-removable amulet). Found at: Shadow Thieves Guild (Docks, talk to Renal Bloodscalp) Profs: Lvl 7 - [*] Dagger, Quarterstaff Lvl 12 - [*] Dagger, Quarterstaff, Sling Grade: B+ What his stats don't tell you is that Edwin gets bonus spells making him the best mage in the game. The downside is that he is weak as a kitten and has so very little HP. Haer'Dalis S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 17 9 15 13 16 Tiefling Blade Chaotic Neutral Haer'Dalis is not from around here. In fact he isn't even from this plane of existence! He is a Tiefling, born with part demon blood. It gives him an odd appearance and an even stranger attitude about life. Found at: Sewers (follow the Raelis Quest from the Five Flagons) If kicked out: Haer'Dalis will go to the main floor of the Five Flagons. Profs: Lvl 10 - [*] Dagger, Dart [**] Short Sword, Two Weapon Style Lvl 13 - [*] Dagger, Dart, Longsword [**] Short Sword, Two Weapon Style Lvl 15 - [*] Dagger, Dart [**] Longsword, Short Sword, Two Weapon Style Grade: D+ The ONLY Bard in the game, and he happens to be lacking the one thing that makes Bards extra special, their Lore ability. That said, he makes a great warrior, for a Bard. But if I wanted a warrior, I'd take a warrior Jan S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 17 15 16 14 10 Gnome Thief/Mage Chaotic Neutral Jan loves turnips. Almost literally! And like most gnomes he is very eccentric, and loves to ramble on with stories that never get to the points. He wants to steal Boo from Minsc, and if he ever succeeded, one would imagine he wouldn't live long after that. Found at: Government District (near the Government offices) Profs: [*] Crossbow, Dagger, Quarterstaff, Shortsword Grade: B+ My favorite Thief/Illusionist in the game! The only Thief/ Illusionist in the game! Unlike the other thief/mages he is a multi-class rather than a dual class, which is both a good and a bad thing. He keeps improving his thief skills, but gains levels slower. Plus he can make his own ammunition for his crossbow. These "flashers" work like Skull Traps and will stun enemies, but not party members. Keldorn S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 9 17 12 16 18 Human Paladin Lawful Good Keldorn is a dedicated man. So dedicated that he goes months without seeing his family. This will lead to conflict, and may cause Keldorn to leave your party forever. Found at: Temple District Sewers (MUST start the Unseeing Eye quest first) Profs: Lvl 8 - [**] Crossbow, Longsword, Two Handed Sword Lvl 9 - [*] Bastard Sword [**] Crossbow, Longsword, Two Handed Sword Lvl 12 - [**] Bastard Sword, Crossbow, Longsword, Two Handed Sword Grade: B+ The only Paladin in the game. If you want a Paladin this is the way to go. He starts out with decent armor and an interesting sword (if he is hit, it deals 5 damage to what hit him). As an Inquisitor gets immunity to Charm and Hold, which is very useful, and his Dispel Magic is very powerful. Korgan S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18/77 15 19 12 9 7 Dwarf Battlerager Chaotic Evil Although his alignment is listed as Chaotic Evil, Korgan is more Neutral Evil than anything (mercenary type that he is). Korgan is always on the lookout to make a buck, no matter the cost (of lives). Found at: Copper Coronet (Slums) If kicked out: Will be at the Copper Coronet, but requires a Bribe to rejoin you. Profs: Lvl 8 - [*] Warhammer [*****] Axe Lvl 9 - [**] Warhammer [*****] Axe Lvl 12 - [***] Warhammer [*****] Axe Grade: A- The best fighter-type in the game. Good Strength, good Constitution and adequate Dexterity. And unlike Minsc (the other "strong" character), Korgan can be a Grand Master in a weapon making him very lethal indeed. Would be an "A" except that he is Evil, which makes it hard to keep him in a Good aligned party. Doesn't get along with Aerie. Nalia S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 18 16 17 9 13 Human Thief/Mage Chaotic Good Raised as a Noble, Nalia fancies herself as a "compassionate" noble, out there working for the good of the common man. She is incredibly naive about the world to the point of almost being stupid. (not quite, though) The way she is presented in-game is more Neutral Good than Chaotic Good. Found at: Copper Coronet (Slums) If she leaves: If you accept her quest, but don't do it right away, she will leave on her own. You will then find her near the De'Arnise Hold in a wooden palisade (SW of the Hold). Profs: Lvl 8 - [*] Dagger, Quarterstaff, Shortbow, Shortsword Lvl 13 - [*] Dagger, Dart, Quarterstaff, Shortbow, Shortsword Grade: C+ Nalia has very puny thief skills (she dualled over to Mage at level 4), making her primarily a Mage with SOME thief skills thrown in for good measure. However, as a Mage she doesn't have 18 INT (which helps) and doesn't gain Edwin's spell bonuses. Viconia S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 19 8 16 18 14 Drow Elf Cleric Neutral Evil Viconia DeVir was forced out of the Underdark and has been living as an exile on the surface ever since. She journeyed with you in your earlier adventures. Fount at: Government District (near the prison) If kicked out: Viconia goes to the Graveyard Profs: [*] Mace, Sling, Warhammer Grade: B+ Personally I think she is the best Cleric in the game. Start with a great Dexterity and Wisdom and you have a great character. Give her the Gauntlets of Ogre Strength (or a similar Strength enhancing item) and she moves up to an A grade. Also, the Girdle of Fortitude can be used to improve her lowly constitution for 8 hours a day. (The Gauntlets are part of the Planar Sphere quest, and the Girdle can be found in the Unseeing Eye quest) Elsewhere: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cernd S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 9 13 12 18 13 Human Shapeshifter True Neutral Cernd was investigating the strange occurrences around Trademeet when he was brought in by the locals. Found at: Trademeet (talk to the Mayor) Profs: Lvl 10 - [*] Dagger, Quarterstaff, Scimitar, Sling Lvl 13 - [*] Dagger, Quarterstaff, Scimitar, Sling, Single Weapon Grade: C+ At first glance you might think Cernd is the worst character in existence. Though not entirely true, it does have some merit. He is a good Druid due to his high Wisdom. The rest of his stats are abysmal, HOWEVER when he turns into a Werewolf, his stats LEAP upwards to the point of superhuman strength, dexterity and constitution. Mazzy S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 18 16 10 13 14 Halfling Fighter Lawful Good Mazzy is not your typical halfling. For starters, she's not a thief of any sort. Plus she's lawful good, heroic and no-nonsense. Very atypical for halflings. Found at: Temple Ruins (follow the Umar Hills quest from Delon at the Government District) If kicked out: Mazzy will return home to Trademeet Profs: Lvl 8 - [*] Shortsword [*****] Shortbow Lvl 9 - [***] Shortsword [*****] Shortbow Lvl 12 - [****] Shortsword [*****] Shortbow Grade: B- A good Halfling fighter, but... in all actuality she is closer to a Halfling Paladin. She has several special abilities such as Lay on Hands and Haste. She's still best used as an archer. Valygar S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 18 16 10 14 10 Human Stalker Neutral Good Valygar's family has long lived in the shadow of magic. His own mother went mad with the power of it and was destroyed. Valygar escaped this fate by becoming a Ranger, albeit the only Ranger with mage spells (Stalker). Found at: Valygar's Cabin (Umar Hills, NE of the town) Profs: Lvl 8 - [**] Katana, Longbow, Spear, Two Weapon Style Lvl 9 - [*] Dagger [**] Katana, Longbow, Spear, Two Weapon Style Lvl 12 - [**] Dagger, Katana, Longbow, Spear, Two Weapon Style Grade: A- I would have preferred that Valygar had been an Elven Archer, but this is almost as good. Valygar comes with several magical items, such as his family Armor, that makes up for his being a mere Stalker. Don't get me wrong, Stalkers are neat, but to get the most out of them, you need to really hide in shadows and backstab a lot. If you don't want to do that, pass on Valygar and use Mazzy or someone else. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. [GMPLYS] Gameplay Strategies and Tricks ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Increase the Brightness Setting: -------------------------------- The "normal" brightness setting is so dark that at times you can't see things that should be quite obvious. So go into the Graphics options and move up the Brightness and Contrast settings! Save a Lot: ----------- The most important strategy in the game: Save often! There are 3 times when you should definitely save the game. When you win a battle, before you go to sleep, and everywhere else. You never know when you will go to a new area, have your best warrior charmed, and have half your party killed. So save often. Also don't just save over the same slot over and over, use at least 10 slots. This also means you should probably avoid the Quick Save. Well... not avoid, just don't use it exclusively. What I would do is to create an "Archive Save" whenever you enter a new major area. So when you get to the beginning of a new area save it as "Starting out in..." and so forth. Start with All your Old Items: ------------------------------ [from Dranyth] When importing a character from BG, or even re-importing a character from BG2 to go through again, you can retain your character's equipment in the beginning of the game (I imagine this would work in multiplayer as well as single player, but I've only tried it in single player). First, give your character all the great stuff you want to start with and then Export him to a character file, then start BG2 and start a single player game, importing your freshly exported character with all his goodies as your new character. Then when you finish your character creation it begins loading the first area, as soon as the loading screen completes but before it actually starts the game, hit the Spacebar once, now when the game starts you should be on a black screen and paused. If the game isn't paused, you'll have to start over after the whole in-game sequence is over, but if the game is paused you should have your sidebars up and everything (if it's a completely black screen you'll need to hit H to reveal the hidden sidebars), and you can go into your character's inventory. Immediately put all of your character's stuff on the ground, then exit his inventory and unpause the game, that first cry you give is where you lose everything that is on your character. Now, after the sequence is over and you're finished talking with Imoen (when you first have control over yourself), go back into your inventory and you'll see that all of your stuff is on the ground right where you left it, actually sitting on the floor of your cage. Take your advanced equipment and go forth to kick evil butt! (hey, if Minsc can hide Boo...) Editor's Note: Another way to do this would be to start a new Multiplayer Game with a new character. As soon as the game starts, then delete this character and import your old one. Magic Items and the Monsters who Require that you Have One to even Hit Them --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moderate SPOILERS At some point in the game, you'll get the "weapon ineffective" message. This usually means that you need a MORE magical weapon than the one you are using in order to hit that monster. For example, Iron Golems require that you hit them with a +3 weapon or better. Kangaxx the Lich requires +3 weapons or better, but his Demi-Lich form takes a +4 or better to hit. Generally you can tell what "enchantment" a weapon is by looking at its bonus to damage or THAC0. If a sword grants +5 to THAC0, it is probably considered a +5 weapon. Some weapons, however, have an "enchantment" far beyond their bonuses. Here is a small list of weapons that do more than advertised: Staff of the Magi, +1 THAC0, hits as a +5 Melf's Minute Meteors, hit as a +5 (and ignore magic resistance) Mace of Disruption +1, hit as a +4 Mace of Disruption +2, hit as a +5 Daystar +2/+4 vs. Undead, hits as a +2 (boo!) Flametongue +1, hits as a +4 Hammer +1/+4 vs. Giants, hits as a +4 Familiars: ---------- Alignment Familiar AC HP Abilities --------------- ------------- -- -- ---------------------------------- Lawful Good Pseudo Dragon -2 24 50% magic resistance, renders victims unconscious, casts Blur Neutral Good Pseudo Dragon -2 24 (same as above) Chaotic Good Fairy Dragon 4 24 32% magic res., casts Invisibility 10' Radius & Mirror Image 1/day Lawful Neutral Ferret 0 24 50% magic res., 75% Pickpocket, 40% Stealth, 20% Detect Traps True Neutral Rabbit -4 16 50% Detect Traps, 30% Stealth, 75% resistance to fire, cold, elec Chaotic Neutral Cat 0 24 20% Pickpocket, 99% Stealth, 50% magic res. Lawful Evil Imp 2 18 Polymorphs, 25% magic res. Neutral Evil Dust Mephit 6 24 Casts Glitterdust 2/day, 10% magic res. Chaotic Evil Quasit 2 24 Casts Horror, 25% magic resist. Note: To get items that were pickpocketed by a Familiar, talk to the Familiar and ask for any items they have. Also, familiars get upgraded in Throne of Bhaal, see that section above for more information. Familiars are great. Sure, only the Main Character can have a familiar (which means that if your Main Character can't cast Magic, you won't get one) and sure if they die then you permanently lose one point of Constitution. But Familiars make the best spies. They move faster than anyone else. Cast invisibility on a Familiar and you can scout out an entire area. (too bad they can't check for traps) The best feature of Familiars? They add HP to their mages! Say you summon a 24 HP Pseudodragon (size-wise think of that little dragon Eddie Murphy voiced in "Mulan"). Then your mage gets a bonus of half that dragon's HP added to himself, or a bonus of +12 HP. Familiars are NOT fighters. Never use them as such. At best they have special attacks that can render opponents helpless. In fact, unless you have a specific task you should keep your familiar in your Backpack. To put them there, talk to the Familiar (you have to click the Talk icon) and ask them to go in your pack. They are completely safe in the pack. To get them back out again, simply right-click the Familiar. Note: If you are a Sorcerer, DO NOT LEARN THE SPELL FIND FAMILIAR!! You can only learn a maximum of 5 spells per level and you don't want to waste it on a spell that you cast ONCE. Buy a scroll and cast it from the Scroll. (Put it in the Quick Item slot, then at the main screen click that scroll) You will also find this scroll in the De'Arnise Hold if you are having trouble finding it. Warning: Familiars can be LOST during transitions to and from various areas. Some that I know of are the Planar Prison and Jarlaxle's pocket dimension. What happens is your party is automatically teleported to a new area, but the Familiar is left behind. That familiar is then lost for good. Trick: The easiest way for a non-mage character to gain a Familiar is to use Alex Malano's "Anyone can cast Mage Scrolls" strategy. Just pause the game, go to your inventory, right-click a potion in the backpack to drink it, then swap slots with the Find Familiar scroll and the potion. Leave the inventory and unpause. You will cast the spell and get a Familiar. Trick: Using familiars as a bag of holding: Certain familiars can pickpocket people, including party members. There seems to be no limit to the amount of stuff they can keep on them. Drop all the stuff except what you want to get store in your familiar. Have him pickpocket you until he gets all of it. Interesting way for a solo mage to get all the loot in a dungeon out in one go. [from Xander77] Trick: You can, of course, export a character after they got the HP from the familiar. Then when you start a new game, you'll still have the extra HP and can then summon a new familiar. Repeat as desired. However, at that point, you're better off just getting ShadowKeeper (http://www.mud-master.com/shadowkeeper/) and setting your HP as high as you want. Keeping Summoned Monsters ------------------------- [from Xander77] The take away monster: The trick for taking a group of summoned creatures through a doorway and into another area is fairly simple. Concentrate your party near the doorway. Concentrate the monster group farther away from the doorway. Pause your game. Have the monster group attack a character in the party. Select the entire party (NOT including the summoned monsters). Click on the doorway to enter it. Voila! You are now in the new area and your summoned monsters have followed you there. At this point, they are colored green, but are not under your command - the talk icon is shown when you click on them (they have nothing to say, if you wonder). They will attack any enemies they see, though. But this is not quite over. Save your game. Load it. The summoned creatures are now under your command. This works with 80% of the doors that only have a "Loading" screen when you enter them, and 40% of the doors that have both "Saving" and "Loading" screen when you enter them. Duplicating items via Simulacrum -------------------------------- [from Xander77] Have the book of many spells in your quick item slot. Summon a Simulacrum. Make him turn the page in the book. The book should disappear from his quick item slot. Kill the Simulacrum. The book is amongst his remains. This works ONLY with the book of many spells and ONLY in SoA. Full strength Simulacrum ------------------------ [from Xander77] The mechanic which the game uses for creating a Simulacrum is fairly simple -- create a duplicate of the caster and afflict him with level drain. If you cast a Simulacrum then cast restoration on him, you will get a full strength duplicate of the caster. This obviously works best with a fighter using Vhailor's helm. Make sure the Simulacrum has a couple of healing potions in his quick item slot. Weapon Effects While Shapeshifted: ---------------------------------- [from K.C.] When a character shapeshifts the effects and equipped abilities from whatever weapons were equipped will still be in effect. I found this out when my main character turned into the Slayer and his claws still had the stunning effect of the Celestial Fury. Later I gave Cernd the Staff of the Ram and sure enough when he turned into a werewolf he was still able to knock opponents back. Cromwell the Smithy: -------------------- Throughout the game you will get spiffy little pieces of great items. These pieces can then be put together by Cromwell the Smithy. His average price is 5,000 gold and it takes a day or two to make. Oh, and you have to stay and help him (so, I hope you weren't already late for something). Here is a list of things he can make: Item Needs (where it is) The Equalizer Sword -- Pommel Jewel of the Equalizer (Irenicus' Dungeon) Hilt of the Equalizer (Mind Flayer City, Underdark) Blade of the Equalizer (Beholder City, Underdark) The Wave Halberd -- Wave Blade (Sahuagin City) Wave Shaft (Planar Prison) Gesen Short Bow -- Gesen Shaft (Tanner's House, Bridge) Gesen String (Spellhold) The Crom Faeyr -- Scroll of Crom Faeyr (Shadow Dragon) Hammer of Thunderbolts (Illithid Lair, Sewers) Gauntlets of Ogre Power (Planar Sphere) Girdle of Frost Giant Strength (Underdark) Mace of Disruption +2 - Mace of Disruption +1 (Bodhi's Lair) Illithium Ore (Athkatla, Bridge District) Vorpal Sword -- Silver Hilt (On a Githyanki, Slums, Chapter 6) Silver Blade (Saemon Havarian, Spellhold) Ankheg Plate Mail -- Ankheg Shell (Windspear Hills) Shadow Dragon Leat. -- Shadow Dragon Scales (Abandoned Temple) Red Dragon Plate -- Red Dragon Scales (Windspear Hills) These are without a doubt the most powerful artifacts in the game. The Crom Faeyr is probably the best of these, since it sets one's strength to 25. (it's a War Hammer with +5 to hit) The Wave Halberd should be kept for ToB as it kills elementals in one hit. Cromwell Trick, Don't Lose your Ingredients! -------------------------------------------- [from Alessio Ronchi] Cromwell takes your scales away only after he finishes his work and not when he begins. Of course this method works with EVERY artifacts Cromwell can forge. So if you are disappointed because you have to give up the girdle of frost giants to make the Crom Fayer, just kill and resurrect your player who carries the artifacts and that's it! (I used Harper's call because it costs nothing and doesn't make you lose 1 point of CON). Oh, you should attack someone who has few HP, otherwise you just risk to injure him and nothing else... and your stuff is are gone. So this is my procedure: 1 - make someone attack your "carrier" before talking to Cromwell 2 - talk to Cromwell and have him forge your artifact 3 - watch... 4 - resurrect and recollect! Editor's Note: I hear you can also just pause the game and remove the item. Other Assembled Items: ---------------------- These have nothing to do with Cromwell, but are assembled nonetheless. SPOILERS Flail of the Ages -- Flail Head (Cold) (De'Arnise Hold) Flail Head (Fire) Flail Head (Acid) Bronze Horn of Valhalla -- Silver Horn of Valhalla ("Fish" House, Bridge) Diamond (anywhere) Iron Horn of Valhalla -- Bronze Horn of Valhalla (Maheer, Promenade) Beljuril (In a Chicken, Umar's Hills) Human Flesh Armor -- Human Flesh (Tanner's House, Bridge) Silver Dragon Blood (Underdark) The Horns of Valhalla are made by Maheer in the Waukeen's Promenade. See that section for more details. Mordenkainen's Sword has a Greenstone Amulet: --------------------------------------------- [from Dranyth] I was in Firkraag's Temple in the area just past the Orcish-Archers-behind- the-walls ambush, in the hall where you get attacked by the various golems. I happened to get attacked by an adamantite golem and two stone golems and backed off to let the stone golems into the room to take them out first, then went back up to see what I could do about the adamantite golem. I cast Mordenkainen's Sword and sent the sword after it while I sat back and watched. The golem had just coughed up one of his mini-Cloudkills and after a round or two my sword somehow got poisoned by it and began taking 1 damage a second. After it took 36 damage, the sword died. On the sword's body was a Greenstone Amulet! While I was writing this it occurred to me that if it had it when it died, perhaps you could pick pocket it... so I just summoned a Mordenkainen's Sword, had Yoshimo quaff a potion of Master Thievery to ensure success, and sure enough, when I pick pocketed the sword it gave me a Greenstone Amulet! I believe this is a very regular occurrence then, I hope it will be useful. As I haven't fought Illithids yet, I'm not sure if these Amulets are that useful against them or not, but from their description I'd imagine so... ToB Note: This was removed for Throne of Bhaal. Healing Flame Trick: -------------------- [from Mike O] Slight SPOILER It turns out that raising a character's resistance to something above 100 not only blocks all damage by that kind of element, but actually heals the character by a small amount relative to the amount of damage that should have been done. The place I discovered this is also probably the best place to take advantage of it - in the Temple Ruins. If you stand on the incorrect letter of the room where you are supposed to spell out Amaunator's name you will get nailed repeatedly by a Flame Strike spell. But when I used the Red Dragon Scale in conjunction with a Fire Resistance ring and one other item I can't remember to raise different character's resistances to fire above 100, I could just sit them there and watch their health bars quickly raise. If you are evil in alignment you also get to enjoy their screaming in pain as they roast :) Any trap that causes damage of a certain type repeatedly will work, though fire traps are probably the most useful since items that provide fire resistance are more common than any other kind. Editor's Note: There are also Fire resistant spells. Further, this works with any Resistance over 100%, including weapon resistances! Reputation: ----------- You really want a high reputation. The higher the better. Even if you have an evil party you want a high reputation. If you have a good or neutral party, try for a reputation of 20, if you have an evil party, you still want a reputation of 18 (the highest you can go before all the evil people start leaving). Because of these various things, I would not recommend having a mixed alignment party. By mixed I mean good and evil combined. The best part about a good reputation is that everything is given the "hero discount", up to 50% off of items in stores! Note: If you get an Evil person to join and your reputation is ALREADY above 18, then they will stay. Unless your reputation changes again. If you start at 20, get someone to join, then go down to 19 they might leave anyway. [from Moby] Trick: You know how if your reputation hits 19, evil people will leave the party? You can prevent this if you have Viconia. Whenever Viconia joins you, you lose 2 Rep. Whenever you dump her, you gain 2 Rep. So, whenever I found a quest where I would get a reputation point reward (after my reputation had reached 18), I would just load the game to a saved game before getting the reward, dismiss Viconia (and ask her to wait right there). My reputation would become 20. Then getting the reward would not change the reputation (since max rep is 20). Then get back Viconia, and rep falls to 18 again. This means that rep will always be 18 (you can always dump her to buy and sell stuff, then get her back). I don't know if you need to remove Edwin and Korgan too, but I believe they should be removed before your rep hits 20 when Viconia is removed. They may not gain some of the quest xp. Still, Viconia's level was good enough for turn undead [from Jafar Sadeq, sharktooth@hotmail.com]. Level/Ability Drain: -------------------- One of the more annoying abilities of Undead creatures (Shadows, Wraiths, Vampires) is their ability to drain your characters stats or levels. First, it should be noted that Stat drains are TEMPORARY and given some time your stats will return to normal. No special action need be taken. However, LEVEL drains are NOT temporary. They must be reversed with a Restoration spell. Priests get the spell "Lesser Restoration" with their 4th level spells (A Priest must be on level 7 to cast 4th level spells). There are also Restoration scrolls and temples offer that service as well. Until they are restored, your people will be operating as though they were on a lower level, however they still accrue experience as normal; so once restored they will be fine. Romances: --------- The main character can have a bit of a romantic subplot with certain companions who join you. Male Character -- Viconia, Jaheira or Aerie Female Character -- Anomen Romances can only start in the city, or outside, NOT in a dank dungeon. (usually, there are exceptions) I'm not entirely sure how these work and assume that they just "happen". There is a slight consequence to having a romance with someone, but it doesn't come up until Chapter 6. Romances are essentially just the NPC and your character chatting. Relationships develop depending on your reactions to what they say. For example, Viconia respects strength, Jaheira honesty and Aerie niceness. Also, Romances have various subplots related to them: SPOILERS Viconia: attacked by a Drow and a Yochlol Jaheira: attacked by Bandits* Aerie: no subplot Anomen: Seeks revenge for the death of his father * I'd recommend downloading the Jaheira Improved Romance file, which you can find here: http://www.baldurdash.org/ BIG SPOILER The Viconia romance has a "bad" ending no matter what you do. That is, you sleep with her, and she then decides to break up with you. Nothing you can do about it, really. It should also be noted that Viconia sleeps with you really fast, then treats you bad before giving in to you once more. In order to get a positive ending with Aerie, you must choose to NOT sleep with her. This still ends the romance (completes it, you could say), but on a more positive note. Haer'Dalis and Aerie can even have a little "fling." (I've heard on the official boards that Haer'Dalis was originally meant to be the second male romance, but that it was taken out due to time constraints. That is, in fact why he has a fling with Aerie, it was meant to be a Love Triangle, where he eventually chooses your character) Some things to keep in mind about romances: The gender of the main character for romance purposes is fixed at the very beginning of the game. This means that the girdle of gender bender will not have any effect on romances, and that you can start a multiplayer game with a male character, then switch to a female character and pursue a lesbian romance with Jaheira, Aerie or Viconia (or vice versa with Anomen - perish the thought). (Per Jorner) Dropping a love interest from the party will terminate the romance, so don't start one with someone you aren't willing to keep around permanently. This means that you won't be able to juggle Viconia for the reputation shifts if you're seeing her. (Alan Cherry) Also, a bug in Jaheira's script will break the romance off if she gets petrified after you're been summoned to the Harper Hold. After you de-stone her, Jaheira immediately takes off for the Harper Hold when you try to have her rejoin the party, even if you've already gone there. You can pick her up at the Docks, but the romance is still over. (I didn't know this had happened until Aerie started flirting again). You'll have to reactivate the romance from the console to proceed with it. (Alan Cherry) Editor's Note: You could reactivate it with the console: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBALS",2) or CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","GLOBALS",1) or you could just download the program Shadowkeeper. http://www.mud-master.com/shadowkeeper/ The romance talks work on real time not game time, for instance if your having a romance with Aerie and she talks to you on day 10 you couldn't rest in an inn for 10 days and then she'd speak to you. Rather it seems you have to wait about 30 min to 1 hour of your time before she speaks to you again. Unfortunately this doesn't mean your romantic NPC is going to speak to you every time sometimes you have to do something else before they talk to you again e.g. Jaheira won't talk to you after a while if you haven't done the bandit quest. (Miguel) Jaheira Note: Firstly if you buy Jaheira a necklace from a merchant in the docks area (next to the temple) and then tell her you have feelings for her this will start a romance with her, however you will not get summoned to the Harper hold (after the Xzar quest) until you have done the bandit Quest. Then After being summoned to the hold and completing that section the entire Harper quest is then tied up with Jaheira's romance talks, after 2 or 3 chats the next part of the Harper quest continues. (Miguel) Romances will be continued in Throne of Bhaal. Also, you might want to visit the BG2 page at: http://www.sorcerers.net/ To find some interesting utilities dealing with romances. Limited Wish: ------------- The limited Wish spell can be very powerful... however it can also have some pretty dire consequences. When cast it summons a Genie who will grant two types of wishes: repeatable and one-time wishes. By repeatable it means that you can wish for that again (such as healing your party), a one-time wish disappears after it is cast once. Whether you can wish for something at ALL is determined by how much WISDOM the caster has. Then whether the wish is successful is also based on WISDOM. Andrea Nicoli has this tip: I experimented them with Nalia (little dumb girl with only WIS 9) and lost all my spells. Then I discovered that, if you do not wait for the Dao to speak with you, but talk to him yourself quick with another character (I used Aerie who has WIS 17) you can get the whole list! (I think that in this way you can get your big fighter to receive the shapechanging ability, but I could not try because I had already used the one time wish). In this way you do not need a high WIS mage to cast this spell. Repeatable Wishes: Wisdom Result --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wish for my entire party to be healed. (WIS 10+) -- Heals the party I wish that none of my party would die (WIS 9-) -- poisons the party of their wounds. I wish that spells I have cast would be (WIS 16+) -- get Spells back restored, that I might cast them again! I wish for my spells to be restored! (WIS 15-) -- lose Spells already memorized I wish to make my party invulnerable. (WIS 12+) -- casts Globes of Invulnerability for the party I wish that magic would fail to affect (WIS 11-) -- Party can't cast me or my party. spells I wish to summon a horde to overrun my enemies. -- Summons a rabbit I wish to be protected from the undead. (WIS 10+) -- Negative Plane Protection, Party I wish to be protected from undead (WIS 9-) -- Summons Vampires right now. One Time Wishes: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wish to be rich. (WIS 10+) -- gives 2000 gold and several gems I wish for a powerful magical item. (WIS 11+) -- Full Plate +2 I wish to be more experienced. (WIS 3+) -- summons several Golems to fight I wish to see all as it really is. (WIS 12+) -- Glasses of Identification I wish for an adventure like none (WIS 10+) -- starts the "gong" I've ever experienced before. quest, and gives you a scroll I wish for control over time. (WIS 14+) -- casts Time Stop I wish to be anything I desire. (WIS 6+) -- Allows you limited Polymorphs I wish to be prepared for anything. (WIS 10+) -- casts Chain Contingency I wish that all my enemies will die. (WIS 11+) -- casts Wail of the Banshee Dual Wield Meteors: ------------------- [from Lani Weaver] Here's a great tip for those dual or multi-classed fighter-mages: Put all the slots you can into dual-wield, dual wield your best weapon in your off hand, then cast Melf's Minute Meteors. You will throw the meteor, then attack with the weapon in your off hand, from any distance! Lockpicking for fun and Profit: ------------------------------- [from George Adam III] Since your party gains experience for doing simple things, such as detrapping and unlocking, there are naturally a few tricks to maximize this. If you want to behave yourself and not steal from the shopkeepers, you can still gain the experience from lockpicking their chests. There are no consequences (rep. decrease, guards summoned, etc.) as long as you don't actually open the chest. Pickpocketing Strategies: ------------------------- [from Henning Roes] I spent some hours and pick-pocketed nearly everybody in the game who was not hostile. It's easy even in the beginning with Jan and a potion. Commoners and Peasants: Nothing, 1-10 gold and minor spells Amnish Soldiers: 20-40 gold and a 30% to get a scroll (up to level 8) Nobleman/Noblewoman: jewels and gold It's worthy to take several trials on the last two categories if you need money and spells in the beginning. Special items: Ribald in the Adventurer's Mart, Waukeen's Promenade: Ring of Regeneration Guardian Telwyn in the Temple of Helm, Temple District: Helm of Glory* Tolgerias in the Council of Six Building, Government District: Ring of Ram** Taquee the Djinn in Trademeet: Bottle of Efreeti Lord Feveron, in the Bridge district: Scroll of Simulacrum Lady of the Keep, de'Arnise hold: Scroll of Protection from Normal Weapons * Quest reward, if you want to have it before completing the quest ** He will drop another one after defeating him in the Planar Sphere Regardless of how high the thieving skills are, there's always a 1% of failure. Quicksave is a must. It's possible to steal from everybody who has a cyan circlet. So you can steal the Ring of Gaxx and get another one by killing him (but this seems to be cheating). Charming the creature increases the chances of pick-pocketing, but don't do this to important NPCs. A Stealing Trick: ----------------- [from David Weldon] Here is a strategy that I used to great effect once I got the thieves guild stronghold. It actually only requires that you find a merchant who will buy stolen goods. First, save up 20K or so to buy the most expensive item you can find in Athkatla. Buy that item, then go sell it to the merchant who will buy stolen goods. (for example, Jayes in the right part of Waukeen's Promenade) Have a thief drink 5 or 6 potions of master thievery (you won't need any more after this, so use all of them that you can buy from local merchants if you want. I generally stopped at around 250 or so Pick Pockets). Proceed to steal and sell back the same item over and over to the merchant. You can rack up any amount of gold that you would want, and then never have to worry about stealing anything again. I actually bought and sold 4 items at a time, because that's what you can click on the interface screen without moving the slider. I netted about 30000 from the four items each time, and in less than 5 minutes I had more gold than I will ever need. It's a lot more rewarding to rip off the thieves' guild and laugh at how stupid their merchants are than it is to just edit your gold amount with a cheat or editor. At least, I felt so! "Shopthrifting" --------------- [from Clayton a.k.a. Lord Nazgul, Monk Savant] What you need: - some gold (the more the merrier) - a store selling high quantities of the items you want (i.e., selling 5 fireball spells as opposed to selling 5 single different spells) - something to sell (that short sword the goblin had works well) - a buyer with lots of room for the purchase What you do: - Select the items you wish to purchase (taking multiple copies where available). The cost will go up as normal, but don't worry about the cost yet. Notice the cost though. - BEFORE purchasing, sell the short sword (or whatever else). Upon completing the sale, you'll notice the cost will drop to the price as if you only selected a single copy of each item. - Complete the purchase. You will be allowed to make the purchase as long as you have enough money to cover the "cost" that is displayed. The game however still tries to charge you what it should cost. However, it will not leave you with a negative gold value. I've tried this in a number of stores now, and it has worked well. Works especially well with the merchant at the city gate. He had some nice scrolls, but I didn't have enough to purchase for all my mages. I figure he's owes me one after I stopped him from getting killed. Leveling up a Dual-Classed Mage Quickly: ----------------------------------------- If your main character was one class, and is now being dual classed to a mage, you will be at quite the disadvantage until your old class abilities resurface. (which happens when your current level, exceeds your old class' level) To speed things up, we take advantage of the Experience for Spells Memorized. First, save it. Then kick everyone out of the party. Now buy every spell you can, and learn every possible spell. Not only are you gaining experience, but you will be quickly gaining whole levels. This probably won't get you above your Dual Class requirement, but it will help a lot. Learning more Mage Spells than Normal: -------------------------------------- Normally mages are limited by their Intelligence as to how many spells they can learn per level. For example, someone with 17 INT can learn only 14 spells per level. To get around this, simply drink a Potion of Genius (or other INT raising potion) and learn all the spells you want. This also works to increase the ODDS that you successfully learn the spell. Although an easier way to increase the odds that you learn a spell is to temporarily drop the difficulty of the game to 'normal' where all spells are memorized. Anyone can cast Mage Scrolls: ----------------------------- [from Alex Malano] First, go into the inventory screen and drink, use a potion (may work with other use items, however I have not tested this). If you're playing in multiplayer you'll need to pause first. Then, replace the location of the "drunken" potion with any scroll of your choice, and exit the inventory screen. If done correctly, the character should start to cast the spell, and the potion is not used up. Editor's Note: Also an interesting way to get a non-mage main character a Familiar. Gem Replication Trick --------------------- [from K.C.] Remember that bug cheat in BGI that let you replicate gems? You would place a potion in your quick item slot, replace it with a gem, and then "use" the gem twice to change the number amount. It still works in BGII. Just R-click on a potion in your inventory to drink it and swap it for a rogue stone, for example. The number will disappear. Now do it again and the number changes to 65535, which is FFFF in hexadecimal notation. This is more than enough gold to finance your entire game all the way through ToB. Editor's Note: If you're in multiplayer, make sure that game is PAUSED before doing this trick. "Fake Talk" as Applied to Stealing from Shopkeepers: ---------------------------------------------------- [from Aleph] Kudos to your "talk-fight" strategy. I have expanded on this a bit, and would like to give you another way to use it beyond dragonslaying... it's called the "Absent-Minded Shopkeeper". Steps. 1) Enter store. 2) Save game. 3) Ask to see goods and start stealing away from the Steal screen. 4) The second you are caught and the steal screen disappears, hit space bar. Don't even wait for the normal screen to come back. 5) While paused, click on the storekeeper again (talk function) and unpause. If timed right, you will be able to talk to them again, and thus continue stealing. You can also quicksave while paused if you doubt your reflexes. 6) At the end, talk to the shopkeeper without getting caught and you should be able to walk away without their turning red, rep loss, etc. Great places to steal are the armorer in Waukeen's Promenade, the mage at the back of Ribald's, the scroll guy in the Promenade, Gareth's contact (for glasses of ID), Trademeet (for acid club, inertia belt, others), and Underdark. Also note that while you can't steal from Ribald's goods, you can pickpocket him for a ring of regeneration. Note: There are times when this strategy will fail, causing the people to go hostile anyway. Stolen items can then be sold at any shopkeep whose goods are "stolen". (Roger the Fence, the Thieves Guild, etc.) Manipulating Things, without anyone Noticing: --------------------------------------------- [from Rolander] For some reason, if you are stealthed or invisible and you manipulate those objects, you do NOT come out of stealth/invisible mode and enemies (if present) will remain ignorant of your presence. Dunno if it's a bug, but it can avoid some unnecessary battle if you use a stealthed/invisible character to go in, activate and get out. (e.g. in the Shade Lord quest, I used a stealthed character to grab the 1st sun gem and snuck him past the gathered shadows without a fight) Getting an object from someone without killing him: --------------------------------------------------- [from Nathaniel Ragatz] Not wanting to kill off the fellow captive clonewoman who mistakes you for Irenicus I charmed and then used pickpocket on her to get the key needed to remove one of the wands in the later wand-trap room. I used the same trick on Mook (the only Shadow Thief that detected as good) in order to steal the shipment from her for Bodhi. It may help to cast doom or greater malison on the target to make sure the charm spell works. Keep in mind that you may need a high (potion enhanced) pickpocket skill to do this and Mook's shipment weighs 50 pounds. Getting hostile people out of the way without fighting: ------------------------------------------------------- [from Nathaniel Ragatz] After I pickpocketed Mook I wanted to put her someplace she wouldn't attack me when the charm spell ended. I brought us over to Mae Var's guild (which I had already cleared out) used the trick where I told her to attack a party member just before we went through the door. Once inside I left Mook and hand the party leave. Mook stayed inside and wasn't around to attack my party when the spell wore off, this can be used on other hostiles as well. Another way to get rid of people without losing Rep: ---------------------------------------------------- [from Nathaniel Ragatz] Use a charm person or dominate spell on someone you want to get rid of (this turns their circle green and makes them an ally under your control). Then send them to fight the nearest monster without a good weapon in hand. If there is no nearby monster just cast summon monster spell and shoot one is a ranged weapon this turns summoned monsters (except dire wolves) hostile (shown by their circle turning red). The monster usually attacks party member or ally that is closest to it (which will be the individual you want to get rid of if you position them right). Why do this? You don't get any exp but you get rid of bad people that hide behind the rest of society. One example is the merchant that tries to blackmail you into paying for his caravan in one of the fighter stronghold subquests. People you sometimes give items or gold to, such as this merchant may drop it if they die-thus you can give in to the merchants demands and then get your money back (don't think of trying this on shopkeepers as this will not work and you will not be able to shop there again). Note: If you get rid of people important for later subquests (like the Roenalls) before you do them then you loose the chance to do that particular subquest (which can mess up some of the fighter stronghold subquests as well as freeing Nalia when she gets arrested). Monks can wear Keldorn's Armor: ------------------------------- [from ROB] If you read the description for Keldorn's Armor it mentions that "few others than" he can wear it. Interesting. Turns out that Monks can wear it, if they have these stats: 15 STR 17 CON 12 INT 18 CHA You can, of course, improve your stats via items. Say you have only 14 STR and 3 CHA. So, if you put on the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength and the Ring of Human Influence, you will raise your stats and could then wear the armor. This is the ONLY armor that Monks can wear! It has an AC of 0, +1 to Saving Throws and Free Action on its wearer. Of course, when your Monk hits level 18 his natural AC is just as good as the armor, making it almost pointless. (You still get the Free Action and Saving Throw bonus, of course) So, if you have a Monk, go find Keldorn and swipe his armor. If you want Keldorn in your party and feel bad about this, just remember that he can wear any armor he wants, while your Monk can only wear Keldorn's. Fighter/Mages and the Corthala Family Armor: -------------------------------------------- [from Henning Roes] The Corthala Family Armor can be equipped by your main char if you can wear leather. But you cannot wear it if your WIS is too low. Drink a potion of insight, equip the armor. Then try a dispel magic on him and the additional WIS is gone but the armor is still equipped. Good armor for a fighter/mage early in the game since you can cast spells while wearing it, and it doesn't evaporate in the sun like Drow armor. Editor's Note: The minimum requirements for wearing the armor are: 6 STR, 18 DEX and 11 WIS Also, this only seems to work on dual classed Fighter/mages. (Multi-Classed Elves and Half-Elves can't wear it) Fighter/Clerics with the above stats can also weaer the armor. Special Abilities: ------------------ Your main character (Protagonist) starts the game with the special abilities that he/she had in Baldur's Gate. THESE ARE NOT SET IN STONE. If you created a new character from scratch these will be: (based on main character's Alignment) Lawful Good: Neutral Good: Chaotic Good: ----------------------- ----------------------- ----------------------- Cure Light Wounds 2 Cure Light Wounds 2 Cure Light Wounds 2 Slow Poison 2 Slow Poison 2 Slow Poison 2 Draw Upon Holy Might 2 Draw Upon Holy Might 2 Draw Upon Holy Might 1 Vampiric Touch 1 Lawful Neutral: (True) Neutral: Chaotic Neutral: ------------------------ ---------------------- ----------------------- Larloch's Minor Drain 2 Cure Light Wounds 2 Cure Light Wounds 2 Horror 1 Horror 1 Horror 2 Slow Poison 1 Slow Poison 1 Draw Upon Holy Might 1 Draw Upon Holy Might 1 Draw Upon Holy Might 2 Vampiric Touch 1 Vampiric Touch 1 Lawful Evil: Neutral Evil: Chaotic Evil: ------------------------ ------------------------ --------------------- Cure Light Wounds 1 Larloch's Minor Drain 2 Larloch's Minor... 2 Larloch's Minor Drain 1 Horror 1 Horror 2 Horror 1 Slow Poison 1 Vampiric Touch 2 Slow Poison 1 Draw Upon Holy Might 1 Draw Upon Holy Might 1 Vampiric Touch 1 Vampiric Touch 1 (new charts from Death Crow) Souma has an interesting Evil Abilities strategy: I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by how useful some of those evil powers are. Well, it is when you use the Call Woodland Beings spell (with Jaheira natch). Not only do you get to cast Mass Cure as a Level 4 spell instead of a Level 5 (sort of), but if you don't need the Nymph getting in your way afterwards, you can use those evil Larloch's Minor Drain and Vampiric Touches on it and gain big hit points temporarily. BIG SPOILER: Eventually you will lose these special abilities when Irenicus finishes what he began at the beginning of the game. Soon after you will gain a new ability, to become the Avatar of Bhaal, the Slayer. The Slayer is immensely powerful, and immune to just about everything. However... There are a couple things to keep in mind about the Slayer. First, you lose 2 reputation points every time you become the Slayer. Not much, but it can add up if you use it too often. Second, if you stay the Slayer for too long at one time, you will die and the game will end. END SPOILER Larloch's Minor Drain Trick --------------------------- Casting Larloch's Minor Drain on yourself has some wonderful effects. You'd think that you would lose Hit points, but you gain it back from the spell... and more! You can actually heal yourself with an offensive spell. Gain More Hit Points at Level Up -------------------------------- Casting Draw Upon Holy Might before going up a level (until level 10, after which this becomes pointless). This increases your CON, which for most characters, will give them bonus Hit points. Because your CON is higher when you gain a level, you will actually gain more hit points than normal. These hit points even stay with you when the Holy Might goes away. Very useful way to use the main character's special abilities. This is especially useful for fighter type main characters as they gain the full bonus from having a high CON. Dual Classing Restores Traps ---------------------------- [with generous assistance from the Lord of Fire] One way to get Yoshimo's (or anyone's) Set Traps ability back (after having set a trap) is to dual class, then cancel that dual. When that is done your old abilities are restored to you, including your set traps. Note: Kicking a thief out of the party will reset their traps as well, however, any monster killed with the trap will NOT give you Experience. "Sandman's Ring" and the Solo Thief ----------------------------------- [from Xander77] Most people I know, sort of disregard the "Sandman's rings" (the ones that allow you to become invisible once per day). I found the invaluable for a soloing thief char. You can hide in the shadows, walk into a battle, backstab someone, turn the ring on, and then either walk out of the screen (if somebody starts casting a True Sight spell or some such, or if you want to let their defenses drop) then walk into the battle and backstab again. There are 6+ such rings throughout the game, so you can make 6+ backstabs per battle. And you don't have to use up potions or spells. (I really love once-per-day use items, because I don't feel that I "wasted" something when I use them) Raid Watcher's Keep Early ------------------------- [from zambkptkn] Because Watcher's Keep is a high level dungeon, most people avoid it entirely until late SoA or sometime in ToB. This is a mistake. Hit the first level of Watcher's Keep early in Chapter 2. You probably won't be powerful enough to take out the level's final guardians, but that can wait until later. All you want to do at first is snag some of the fairly lightly guarded items on the first level that will make your adventuring life much easier. Specifically: The Golem Manual, the Case of Plenty +1, the Quiver of Plenty +1, and the Ammo Belt. All can be acquired by a party of even 8-10th level if properly equiped and played. At the very least, buy the Potion Bag from Sister Garlena. You don't have to fight anyone for this and it is more than worth the trip! The only downside to this strategy is having to keep track of the Ritual Scroll and the Vigil Stone so you can have them when you are ready to clean out the rest of the keep. Project Simulacrum Images ------------------------- [from Timy Gadeholt] I discovered a neat little trick while playing BG2. If you have a sorcerer or mage cast Simulacrum, both the caster and the simulacrum can cast Project Image. Even better, the images can then cast Simulacrum on themselves (so you now have 4 duplicates), which in turn can cast Project Image on themselves. You can keep going on like that to get a huge army of simulacrums and images, all of which can cast spells individually. So you could have one group of copies casting insta-death spells on enemies, another group casting spells like Greater Malison and Breach, and another group casting summoning spells. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. [GNRLMN] General Monster Fighting Strategies ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Basic monster fighting strategies (ones that tend to work well against all monsters) are in this section. The following sections have specific advice for dealing with the tougher monsters. Basic strategies ---------------- [from Xander77] Backstab from someone powerful is always good. Melf's Minute Meteors/Bolt of Glory/Ram's ring ignore magic resistance. The Inquisitor's Dispel makes every mage battle a lot easier. Greater Malison + Doom + Instant death spell (Finger of Death, Polymorph other, heck - even Chromatic Orb) = (usually) instant death. Slayer kills everything. The Invisible Door Blocker Strategy: ------------------------------------ [from Phobia] What you do is make a guy invisible with a ring, potion, stealth, etc. and have him stand in a doorway (if the doorway is too big, you can have two people standing there side by side, this only works in doorways that you can stand in, the HUGE ones don't count). Then you send someone into the room, the invisi-guys will move to let him through, then go back into place, when the enemies see you, run back through the doorway. The enemies will run into your invisible characters and not attack them because they can't see them, then you can take the enemies out with spells and ranged weapons. Editor's Note: I would turn the Party AI off for this strategy. You need to prevent your invisi-guys from attacking and becoming visible. A Defensive Spin Trick: ----------------------- [from Tim Marshal] Blades can move while in defensive spin. All that is needed is to have the free action effect on the Blade before or during the spin (i.e. potion, spell, ring). Haer'Dalis has become one of my best lure characters. Equip him with Stoneskin, several items that grant magical resistance, and the ring of free action. Have him go into defensive spin and you are nearly untouchable. The "Fake Talk to the Enemy" Strategy: -------------------------------------- This is one of the bigger exploits in the game, and it is incredibly simple to pull off. Many enemies start out with the Light Blue circles around them indicating that they are neutral, which means you talk to them and they become hostile later. (Or sometimes they talk to you) What you do is this. First make any normal battle preparations (cast protective spells, haste and whatnot), then PAUSE the game. Now click on every enemy as though you were going to TALK to them. Then switch over to attack mode and Force-Attack your enemies. When you unpause the game they won't attack you. And if there are more than one enemy, the others will wait a while before attacking, watching you take out their comrades! This can be repeated as often as desired, and if you want to keep doing it, be sure to pause about every 5 seconds and continue it. (they will become hostile after 6 seconds -- one round -- and attack you) Where is this strategy MOST useful? Dragonslaying, of course! The three dragons in the game all start out with Light Blue circles around them. So, do the fake-talk to them, and start attacking. You will get quite a lot of time before they raise their defenses, time that you can use to do some damage. Note: There are times when you absolutely should NOT use this strategy. Some monsters don't die, instead they start talking when they get close to death. With the Fake Talk, you won't reach this point and the monsters will never die. Don't use it on Lassal, Kangaxx, Lavok, Irenicus and anyone who is particularly crucial to the plot. Tough Battle Tips: ------------------ [from Adar] Some basic strategies that I have heard of to kill tough monsters: - Back away from the monster so that you can't see it anymore, then cast Cloudkill. If you're a sorcerer or have the wand, drop as many Cloudkills as you can. Their effects stack. - Use a Monk's "Quivering Palm" attack to kill it. - Have a Kensai/Thief backstab it. - Have a Cleric cast Thac0 modifying spells on self, then cast Slay Living on target. (Adar) - Summon forth a Pit Fiend, then keep the party out of the battle. Jan's Bruiser Mates in Overdrive! --------------------------------- [from Nolan Wright] Jan's Flasher Master Bruiser Mate work exactly likes glyphs or skull traps. One way to take advantage of this -- in battles with most liches or dragons when you have to speak to activate the fight -- one can fire his amunition at your own party. They will hover next to where the party member was but won't explode because they aren't hostile. I've found that if you make a stock of these it can make some of the hardest battles easier. Project Image and Cloudkill: ---------------------------- [from Jafar Sadeq, sharktooth@hotmail.com] I rested once before killing the black dragon. I used the cloudkill strategy, had Nalia memorize 3 project images and 6 cloudkills (using a ring of wizardry). Then just project image, hit 6 cloudkills in general direction of dragon, quickly kill the image with the best fighter (my beastmaster dual-wielding the bone club and gnasher) so I could get another image and set off more cloudkills as soon as possible. It took all three images' cloudkills, otherwise the damage would be so slow that it would cast heal before it could be killed. (I once managed to get an image to project another image, but wasn't been able to repeat it.) I did not rest once after this and finished the game without using any spell other than one Protection from Evil 10'. Editor's Note: Project Image is probably the most useful spell in the game, and the easiest one to abuse as well. Using Project Image you can have the image cast every spell you have, and when the Image disappears, you will still have all those spells. Also, the Image has no summon limit, it can summon as many monsters as it wants. Very useful to summon up a dozen Skeletal Warriors (or in ToB, a half dozen Planetars). Infinite Lightning Bolts: ------------------------- [from Brawny Lam] I was fighting Kuo-Toa in the underdark exit: In the heat of battle, I accidentally got Imoen to cast lightning bolt on my ranger PC. Luckily enough my ranger was wearing the Cloak of Mirroring, so the lightning bolt got reflected back to Imoen, who was wearing the Cloak of Reflection, so the lightning bolt kept being reflected back and forth from my ranger to Imoen and vice-versa. Now here's where it gets interesting. Every time a lightning bolt got reflected, the original lightning bolt would continue to bounce around the room. So after a couple of reflections, I had about 4 to 5 lightning bolts bouncing all over the place vaporizing everything in their path. I was quite happy that the Kuo-Toa were being turned into ash before my eyes, but not quite so happy when it killed my entire party as well, except for my ranger and Imoen, who were still reflecting lightning bolts back and forth. Not sure how useful this trick is, but I thought I'd mention it since its cool looking at all those lightning bolts flying all over the place. It'll probably be more useful if the party was protected from electricity. Editor's Note: This doesn't work with a fully patched ToB game, where the cloaks no longer bounce the lightning bolts. Set Snare Tricks: ------------------ Strategy tip for dragons and other tough battles: I went to the Windspear Hills right after doing Nalia's Keep on my first run-through, and when I reached the Red Dragon. I was still quite low level, as I hadn't done any of the town quests except Aerie's circus and the slaving ring in the Copper Coronet. I figured, oh what the hell, I'll give it a go anyway, and proceeded to prep for battle. By chance, I remembered Yoshimo's set snares ability, and strung snares all around the big lizard before attacking. They must have accounted for at least half the damage I did to it, and I managed to kill it without any severe injuries to my party. And there I was with a +5 Holy Avenger and no freaking paladin to wield it! Anyway, I thought I should mention this as it seems many people have overlooked this ability on the BBs I've looked at, and it can prove invaluable in any number of combats (especially those you can prep for). IMHO it makes the bounty hunter far superior to the other thief kits. [from Geoff Ulreich] To expand on that tip, lets consider this: with not only Bounty Hunter kit's Set Special Snare ability, even a regular snare cannot be stopped by any creature's resistance stats or saving throws. What that means is thieves' snares are, in actuality, the best weapons in the game for defeating just about every boss and mini-boss. What I usually do is to set traps around dragons (they never initiate attack), rest, set some more, rest, and set more.... Since snares do not 'expire' when you rest, you can essentially blanket an entire area with snares. Not only can you do this around tough enemies such as the dragons (Yoshimo killed the first two dragons for me without a single member of my party having to go on attack), but also such as the Mind Flayers, Beholders, and other tough(er) enemies in this game, some of which you can not even go near without layers and layers of protective spells. Just lure them to an area FILLED with traps and Voila! [from Willis Su] As you can see, this is so unfair it runs into game-balance issues -- another reason I was reluctant to share the tip. One warning to anyone trying such a tactic: be diligent in removing snare notations on area maps, or the map WILL cause the game to crash, since it's NOT designed to handle so many snare notations. Juky & 649 of 711 have a better Snares Strategy: My cousin and I have found a really neat trick. With any thief or bounty hunter, you can set infinite traps. Have the thief set all his/her traps, and then reform your party. Remove the thief from the party. The thief will then move to talk to your main character. He/she will ask your main character if his/her services are still needed. Say yes. The character will rejoin the party, and all his/her traps skills are refreshed. I have tried this many times with Yoshimo, and it has made certain tough battles a lot easier. Note: You can also just click Dual Class, then Cancel to get your Snares back. [from SMShadow] This method is actually preferred, as the traps of a kicked-out party member (even if they return) won't net you any experience. How to Kill Civilians (without really trying): ---------------------------------------------- [from Willis Su] For those that are able, cast the necessary protection spells (Protection from Evil), and summon forth a demon (Cacofiend, Gate, etc.). The demon that you summoned will tear everyone in the vicinity to shreds without affecting your reputation. Just make sure your party can contain the demon so it kills whom you wanted it to kill, or else you may start to lose quest-vital NPCs. This is in response to those neutral characters/townsfolks that sometimes turn hostile either through thievery on your part, or due to some other scripting bug. Use it cautiously. The Death Spell --------------- The Death Spell kills all monsters with 8 or fewer hit dice. (A "Hit Die" is roughly the equivalent of a level) There are a great MANY monsters in the game that fit this bill, including, but not limited to: Trolls (although they'll still need to be hit with Fire or Acid, but you get double experience for killing them twice) Umber Hulks Mind Flayers The Death spell will instantly kill these bad guys. However, Mind Flayers have Spell Resistance at 90%... which does limit its usefulness against them. (Although the Flayers guarding Phaere are considered "summoned" and will die instantly against this spell) RCL has many battle tips and strategies: ---------------------------------------- "Um, seeya" strategy I just wanted to emphasize that many groups of enemies (especially ones with mages, such as the Slum Slavers or the second-floor enemies in the Guarded Compound) will be much easier to kill if you move immediately back downstairs/out the door, etc. (into another game area map) after they decide to attack you. Some will follow you and some will not, and even if they do, they do it one at a time instead of moving as a group like yours, giving you windows to take them out one at a time. Also, if the spellcasters do not follow you out, that gives you an opportunity to wait until their protective spells expire before you go back in. "Not another summoned creature!" strategy For some of those monsters that have special attacks or cast spells, send in a lot of little summoned creatures (one at a time) to bamboozle them into wasting their memorized spells and special attacks (such as Dragon breath), which I believe are limited in number. If you can control the creatures, make them walk around the monsters a bit to induce the monsters to cast spells instead of using physical attacks. Marking enemies' location with junk There are times when you want to move out of the enemy's sight and use spells like cloudkills, etc. to kill him. An easier way to remember where they are so that you can cast those spells is to drop some junk as markers. Even with the fog o' war you will still be able to see the junk from far away. For example, I killed the red dragon while virtually no one was severely hurt by: 1. Walked right next to him and dropped some junk and set some snares. 2. Made him hostile, by sending in one character to talk to him. 3. The character then got out of the dragon's sight immediately. 4. Summoned any creature at spots where you know the dragon can see them rising but cannot touch them without walking up to them. The dragon naturally chose to use his breath on that creature, usually killing it before it even started to walk. 5. Repeated with summoning creatures large and small, until the dragon stopped using his special attacks... 6. Cast some area-attack spells where the dragon was, and then 7. Haste -> breach -> group charge -> dead dragon -> holy avenger and dragon scales. The 3 basic high level insta-kills ---------------------------------- [from Xander77] 1) Chain Contingency + 3 Horrid Wiltings. Basic for killing groups of enemies. If used to kill a single tough enemy, a spell sequencer - 3 pierce shield or 3 lower resistances is good beforehand. Also - Set the contingency, rest, trigger the contingency in battle, then immediately set the same contingency again. 2) Timestop + Improve Alacracity. Make sure your PC auto pauses after a spell is cast. Lower Resistance, Pierce shield, then go Whacko. With a Robe of Vecna + Amulet of power, your level 1 spells Magic Missile and Chromatic Orb will have a casting time of zero, so cast the whole lot of the first, then go with any kind of (overkill at this point) spell you feel like. 3) Shapeshift + Timestop. Once Timestop kicks in, Shapeshift into the Mindflayer. During Timestop, all your attacks are auto-hits. So once timestop ends, your enemy is dead. A stat drain will kill most of the unkillable "vital to game progress" NPC's - even the ones immune to the CTRL-Y insta-death cheat. So, Shapechange - Mindflayer kills all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII.1 [GLMSVI] Golems ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Golem Trick: ------------ [from Greymane] There is a great little trick for defeating any Golems you might run into. Simply take the Ring of Earth Control and use it's Control/Charm Earth Elemental ability on the biggest Golem around. Despite the description of the spell, it actually works on the golems too! It might take a couple of tries, but you can rest in the same room as the golems and try again. After you've gotten the biggest on there charmed, let him kill off the others and then loot the treasures before the spell wears off. Clay Golems: ------------ Clay Golems MUST be hit by BLUNT weaponry to score effective hits. Sample blunt weapons are: Clubs, Maces, Morningstars, Fists and Staves. Hit them with anything else and you will get the "weapon not effective" shtick. One exception to this are weapons that have bonus damage, such as +1 fire damage. The weapon itself won't hit, but it will still do its fire damage. Iron/Adamantium Golems butchering --------------------------------- [from Xander77] You can just engage the golem in hand-to-hand with +3 weapons, of course, but I wouldn't recommend it - they deal massive damage and are usually contained in rooms with exits through which they can't fit. The only place where they run free is Suldanessalar, and there you can use the invisible door blocker to keep them at bay - just have her move away a meter or 2 when the golem uses the gas attack. A character wielding a +3 two-handed sword can reach the golem and hurt him, while the golem can't hurt him. The gas attack is sometimes capable of hurting him and sometimes not - haven't quite worked it out. If it does hurt, just move the character away until stops. Go back to hacking away at the golem. - Personally I don't care for this one, but if you're desperate for the experience and don't have any other means of handling the golem, you can lower his MR once or twice then magic missile him to death. The golem only has 80 hp or so - not too tough a task. - Melf's minute meteors - ignore magic resistance. One casting is enough to kill a golem (some kind of ThacO spell is preferable beforehand, though). Great for killing magic resistant creatures. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII.2 [DMNSV2] Demons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Demon Fighting: --------------- Find yourself fighting some mighty demon? Pit Fiend? Glabrezu? Well fear no more! Simply cast Protection from Evil on your party and they will ignore you! This is not a guaranteed strategy, some demons will attack you anyway. Demons killing -------------- [from Xander77] - As this FAQ mentions, protection from evil 10 feet radius works wonders. Most random (non quest related) demons won't see you, thus giving plenty of time to ambush them. - Going hand to hand. Actually not that bad of an idea. By the time you start running into demons, you should have several +2/+3 weapons in you party (if you don't, you probably won't manage to get through the area where the demon is) so you're capable of hurting him. There are often several annoying distraction - quasits, genies, and such - around the demon. Get rid of them using some are destruction spells. Then your buffed up (haste, chant, chaotic commands on the main char [hold and stun protection] etc) party charges the demon. A few ruffled feathers later, he should be dead. - Bolt of Glory - 2 of those should handle most any demon. Possibly an extra shot from the Rams ring and/or Melf's minute meteors. The reason all the aforementioned work is because they ignore magic resistance (which the demon has a plenty). - Desperate measures (if you have to rely on this, then you aren't quite ready to face demons yet) surround the demon with aerial servants and fire elementals. They get stunned and slaughtered, but they have plenty of hp, so you'll have some time before he turns to you. Now lower his resistance and magic missile him to death (damn, this game would be a lot harder is some monsters just bothered learning Shield) - Slayer change. Also counts as desperate measures for handling one measly demon, but it does the job quite effectively. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII.3 [NDDSV3] Undead ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Turning Undead Strategies: -------------------------- [from Xander77] Cleric undead turning is really awesome - much easier killing them off with tanks. One turning - and the undead explode. What's even better then is an evil clerics (I.E - Viconia) undead turning - you don't blow up undead, you turn them to your side. Generically speaking, your cleric level is usually more then enough to turn the weaker undead you're facing to your side. Beginning with level 20 you can turn Liches to your side. Now to my point. Turning undead DOES NOT interrupt invisibility. So you can cast one level 2 spell (which lasts 24 hours) on Vicky, and have her run around turning undead. Its really fun walking around with 20-30 undead allies following you. No risk involved. Vampire Fighting: ----------------- [from Jeremy Treanor] I found that having two clerics (Viconia + Aerie, my first time through) does absolute wonders in the vampire dens and other places where there are undead creatures affected by sunlight. Two simultaneous castings of false dawn knocked out every vampire that swarms around you. If they should survive, they're still confused and more than a little vulnerable. The Mace of Disruption and Vampires: ------------------------------------ [from Xar] In Chapter 3, get into the lair, get the Mace of Disruption and pull back. Upgrade it with the Illithium. With the Mace +2 and a Helm of Charm Protection (or similar), one character can clear the entire nest. (The vampires will obligingly leave their door open while you spend a day or so with Cromwell.) Editor's Note: You get the Illithium as part of the "Sir Sarles" quest that the Temple gives you. Fighting Monsters who Level Drain: ---------------------------------- [mostly from Travis Archer] There are many types of undead that will "drain" your levels when they attack. You may be a level 12 fighter, but that vampire just made you into a level 10 fighter. This is easily fixed with a Restoration spell, but there are some other consequences of level drain as well. When a spellcaster is drained, they lose their higher level spells. So, to protect against this: Memorize your most important spells first. That way, they're the last spells to get level-drained. Examples of Important Spells: Lesser Restoration, Raise Dead, Heal. This makes mopping up after vampire encounters a lot less annoying. When you restore levels, spells are not re-memorized, so don't forget to do this before you rest. Negative plane protection, which protects from level drain, has a disappointingly short duration, and having to memorize and cast it 6 times before a fight is obnoxious, so I recommend that you do one of the following: 1) Cast it only on your spellcasters (re-memorizing spells is annoying) 2) Keep your casters in the rear and don't cast it at all 3) Use limited wish instead to protect your whole party with one spell. (best choice) Lich hacking ------------ [from Xander77] - Sunfire. It's a shame that you can't have 2 daystars, since that option doesn't hurt party members. Move your entire party except for the mage and the guy with the daystar into the corner. Make sure that the guy with the daystar won't be hurt with the mages sunfire. If possible, try to make sure that both sunray and sunfire go of just as the lich appears. That usually does the trick. If extra assurance is needed, then use ring of the ram before the sunfire/sunray combo. - Turn undead. If your cleric is level 20+ you can either blow up or control the lich. This goes through all his protections. If you control him, either use his spells against another enemy, or have him waste them into thin air, then attack him. - Annoying long way - have a bunch of summoned creatures mob the lich where he first appears. If he manages to kill them all, summon a few new ones, (better waste summon spells then to have him sling instant death spells at the party). Now take your time while dispelling his protection. Ruby ray of reversal, Khelban's warding whip (though if you have access to those, you probably can just turn him with your cleric) breach, etc. Eventually he runs out of protection spells and you can just pepper him full of bolts and arrows. Cast a true sight before the lich appears, to dispel the invisibility/mislead that he is sure to cast. - Summoned creatures. Already outlined in this FAQ and my favorite strategy for dealing with mages. Move your entire party, except for one guy, into the corner. Put a summoned monster or 2 where the lich is supposed to appear. Have the lich appear, talk to the char and turn hostile. Now have the char run to the corner. The lich should turn up a few defenses, then fry the summoned creatures. Then. it just sits there, waiting for its protections to go out, because it sees no enemies on the screen. Wait a minute or 2, and send another summoned creature in. If the lich's defenses have run out, he should cast some new ones. Just keep doing this until he runs of out defense spells (or, if you're extra cautious, until he runs out of major attack spells) then charge him with your entire party. PS - Using a wizard eye or farsight to supervise, make sure that the creatures gradually move him towards the party. This strategy depends on the lich not seeing the party. Note: The above works only if your summoned monsters keep the enemy well away from the party. - Stoneskin + Protection from evil + Polymorph self. Turn into a jelly and just sit there. The lich's pit fiend can't hurt the jelly and the lich should take care of him himself. The efreet's first few opening numbers are spells, so you don't have to worry about that. If he hangs around long enough to run out of spells and start attacking you physically (unlikely) just have your party take him out. Your Stoneskin should absorb a few blows anyway. By the time you Polymorph ends, the lich should run out of defenses and use up most of his spells. Now go and kill him. - Protection from undead - the lich doesn't even see you. Wait until his protection from magical weapons runs out, and just wallop on him. The only drawback is having to refresh the spell. If you have the protection from undead amulet, then it's just unfair. - Mace of disruption +2. Ignores all protections (even protection from magical weapons) on a critical. Also known as BOOM. - Lich in the in at the town gates - door skipping cheat. Run through the door whenever he begins to cast a spell. The spell is wasted. Run back in. Wash-rinse-repeat until he runs out of spells. Doesn't work in ToB. Fighting against liches and especially against time stop. Use fog of war to your advantage, hide in the "fog" and summon creatures to attack the lich (don't follow yourself, only send your new minions). You won't be able to see anything but you will get message at the bottom to know what's going on. The Lich will waste some of its spells, usually wasting its Time Stop as well. Don't cast all your summoning spells at once, Death Spell will get rid of them all. [from Max Chen] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII.4 [DRGNSS] Dragons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dragon slaying -------------- [from Xander77] Luckily enough, most dragons in the game allow you to surround them and buff up before taking them on, except for the lame black dragon and the even lamer abyss dragon. They still alert you to their presence and give you time to buff up, though. Buff up and surround him is actually all you need, but here is a more detailed game plan: Note where the dragon is, and do the following just outside his sight (for the shadow dragon specifically). Drink any potions you feel like drinking (some stuff to raise your resistance to his breath weapon is good). Summon up 5 long-term monsters. Fire elementals (druid) invisible stalker, skeletons, Killthix (the spider figurine). Cast protection vs evil 10 feet (most dragons are evil, it will protect both you and your summons, and should last you until the end of the battle and then some). Now get your personal buff spells up: Stoneskin, Blur, Mirror image, Fireshield for mages. Ironskin, Barkskin, Armor of Faith and maybe celestial protection for druids/clerics. You can also do draw upon holy might/ strength of one, but I usually don't bother - it does little good, and wastes one round of protection spells. Maybe a Simulacrum from Vhailor's helm and a lesser restoration on it now. Now for group buffing spells: Bless, Chant, Defensive Harmony for druid's clerics (you should have 2 clerics/druids and 2 mages/sorcerers in the party). Haste for the mages and maybe mass invisibility (level 6), and. that's it. The preparations are over. (You should start casting the next spell as soon as you're done with the previous, except from Bless Chant and Defensive Harmony - those should be cast just before you run into combat) Run up to the dragon and make 2 circles around him. One circle, which touches the dragon - summoned creatures. One circle, which uses ranged weapons - the party members. The point of this arrangement is to make sure that if the dragon uses his breath weapon, he can't hurt more then 2 summoned creatures/ 1 party member at the same time and to make sure that if the dragon uses wing buffet on the summoned creatures he doesn't hurt your party members. Note: The shadow dragon will cast a death spell on summoned creatures if he sees them, so its best that they go into the 4 corners of the room while hugging the walls, and converge on his location when you're ready to begin the battle. Now issue a formal challenge to the dragon (or not. Doesn't make much of difference). Personally I prefer to challenge him when everyone has just began casting their spells. Have everyone attack. The Dragon should go Stoneskin + haste + greater malison + lower resistance to breath weapon (btw - if your resistance if equipment based, you can get it back up by taking your stuff off and re-equipping it) + (maybe) immunity from magic weapons. You go: remove magic to handle the haste and the immunity to magic weapons. Pierce magic to handle to Stoneskin and take his magic resistance down. 2-3 Lower magic resistance. Now just magic missile him to death. (Did I say that this game would be a LOT harder if monsters bothered learning Shield?) You can add smite evil/silence/bolt of glory/lighting bolt and other damage spells to the mix just for the hell of it, but magic missile is the greatest dragon killer of them all (fireball happy guys - ice storms aren't that bad of an idea. Especially since summoned creatures that get caught up in the damage don't seem to turn hostile). When and if he manages to kill some of your summoned creatures, take a moment to summon a few more. Make sure that he's always boxed in between at least 3 monsters, and is therefore unable to move up to one of your characters and attack her. Note: You can, of course, have you fighters attack the dragon in hand to hand. Makes it a bit more exciting and a lot more dangerous. Magic missile-ing him to death is a lot easier. If you do go for the hand to hand - good resistance to breath weapon is nice. So is improved haste on your main dragon slayer. Make sure to surround him from several sides, so that he won't be able to breath on 2 or 3 characters at once. And when he blows you off the screen with the wing buffet, consider it as a break in the action and take a round or 2 to fully heal up. That should handle any dragons in your path. The black dragon and the hell dragon give you time to buff up and summon, but you can only form a half-circle around them (try to get the summons to circle them, though). PS - The greatest Dragon slaying tip I ever got, from Charlie Yeah Charlie: Polymorph him. Ok, so it's the toughest squirrel you'll ever have to fight, but at least he don't look so tough. 3 of the 4 Dragons (in SoA) have no resistance to electricity and even the 4th one is weak against it. This is where lighting bolt come in. Bounce it off the wall a few times and watch their HPs go down. [from Max Chen] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII.5 [NMYSPL] Enemy Spellcasters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mages ----- Mages have increased in power by LEAPS and BOUNDS since Baldur's Gate. They're much more annoying now. Two spells in particular make them tough to fight: Contingency and Sequencer. These allow mages to cast spells almost INSTANTLY at almost any time. Then add in their new protective magics -- Protection from Normal Weapons springs to mind -- and defeating mages in Baldur's Gate II becomes much more difficult. Mage does: Protection from Normal/Magical Weapons Counter with: Breach (lvl 5) Mage does: Shadow Door/ Invisibility AND Protection from Normal Weapons Counter with: Purge Invisibility or Glitterdust or Remove Magic THEN Breach You cannot Breach anything that is invisible, so you have to get them to be seen first. Note: True Sight dispels any and ALL protections from the illusion school. That's right, no more Mirror Images, Simulacrums or Invisibility! (or thieves hiding in the shadows, for that matter) Dispel Magic is more of a "clean up" dispeller to be used in sequence with Breach. It usually takes care of whatever Breach doesn't, leaving your enemy mage wide open. I like this spell for its versatility (removing negative and positive status) but you're better of using Remove Magic in sequence with Breach as you won't end up removing your own protections, plus you'll want to save your Dispel Magics when baddies start throwing out Maze spells. Generally, Ruby Ray of Reversal gets rid of everything that protects from spells while Breach takes care of anything that protects from weapons and elements. [entire NOTE from John Winkleman] I let my archers take care of mages most often, so countering their Globes of Invulnerability is not a priority. A Spell Thrust could be used to cut a Minor Globe out, however. Two spells that work wonders against mages are Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting and Skull Trap. Don't target the mage directly, but drop the spell just off to the side, this bypasses their direct protections, and can hurt them pretty severely. Summon Nishruu/Hakeashar ------------------------ Leo Wang recommends summoning Nishruu (and their higher level counterparts, Hekaeshars) to deal with mages. Nishruu are mage-eaters for the most part, as they are drawn to mages like bees to pollen. Magic attacks heal the Nishruu and best of all, Nishruu cause mages to forget spells. Summoning up these bad boys make the end game mages (such as Irenicus) pretty easy. Nishruu are a 6th level spell, and Hakeashars are 7th. Cyrille Artho doesn't think too highly of Nishruu's: Just a comment about the usefulness of Nishruus and their "relatives": I used them now and again vs. wizards, but did not like it very much when one of my Imoen was charmed and turned against me (incidentally she had summoned the Nishruu herself). What would the Nishruu do? After I killed the enemy mage, it would "home" on Imoen. Until I had realized that and disposed myself of the Nishruu, it had already eaten some magical items (among them the Bracers of Protection!). That really pissed me off, and I didn't use Nishruus anymore. Not to mention that they might also degrade items that you would otherwise pick up after the battle. Henning Roes has an interesting tip for fighting mages: Normally the high-level mage casts heavy protections on himself and it takes some time to take them down. In my second game I found a new strategy to get rid of their protection-from-magical-weapons like mantle etc: I used normal weapons in that case. I didn't do that in my first game because I wanted enchanted weapons as much as anyone. So I never thought about how useful non-magical weapons are. Fighting the Cowled Wizards for Fun and Profit: ----------------------------------------------- [from JP] You can't cast spells in Athkatla unless you want to face the Cowled Wizards. And if you want to get them off your back you must pay Corneil at the Council of Six building. I finished the game as a paladin (I imported my character from Baldur's Gate) and then played it again as an Invoker. I didn't want to pay Corneil the 5,000 gp because I saw the cowled wizards as a potential source of both gold and exp. If you want to face off with the Cowled Wizards, here's what I recommend: 1. Isolate your mage from the rest of your party. 2. Go to a spot anywhere in Athkatla (I did this near the archway in the bridge district) where there are only a few people, lessening the risk of killing someone accidentally. 2B. Drop a bit of Junk on the ground to mark this spot. 3. Cast a summoning spell, preferably summon nishruu. The "spokesperson" for the cowled wizard should appear shortly after the nishruu materializes. Don't expect the nishruu to do heavy damage. His only purpose is to distract the cowled wizards from attacking you. 4. Don't wait for him to appear! Quickly walk away from him and then attack him using your nishruu. 5. He'll say something short and three or four other cowled wizards will appear to attack you. 6. Walk away until you don't see them anymore (or until they're covered by the fog of war). Your nishruu will attack them and they'll attack your nishruu. 7. Look for your Junk. It marks their position. 8. Wait for a few moments to let some of their protective spells expire. You don't have to wait that long anyway. Cast shadow door. 9. Cast area effect spells like death fog, cloudkill, web, ice storm, skull trap, etc. On the ground near where you last saw them. You can't see them and they can't see you, but you know where they are, so use that to your advantage. 10. Use multiple web spells if you have to so that they don't approach you. In time, they'll all die and you get around 14000 exp. Search their corpses for potions, scrolls and gems. I did this a lot times and it paid off rather well. It's not infinite. You'll eventually face a high level wizard, who will cast time stop and summon a pit fiend. Before I could beat him he cast dimension door and vanished. The final fight with the cowled wizards will occur when their spokesperson tells you that the highest members of their order have come to fight you. To beat them, simply repeat the process I said about defeating them. But be careful! One of them (her name's Zalladora, I think) can (and probably will) cast two time stop spells at the beginning of the battle! Keep your distance from them. When Zalladora is near death, she'll attempt to cast her third time stop spell. If she does, she'll cast gate and summon a pit fiend and cast dimension gate to get out. It's up to you if you want to prevent her from escaping or if you want to fight the pit fiend instead. Either way, if you survive, the cowled wizards will never bother your spellcasting in Athkatla again. Matt Warner has an easier way to cast spells in Athkatla: I've just found a neat little way to rid yourselves of the interference of the Cowled Wizards without paying the hefty 5000 gold bribe, or going through the effort of killing wave after wave of wizards until they give up on you, though that will probably yield a bit more treasure than my method. If you just want to be done with them quick and easy, do this: Have a mage cast any spell that will attract the attention of the wizards, stoneskin or mirror image work well. Of course, so does everything else but those spells are nice and non-offense. A lone wizard will dimension door in to yell at you before bringing in several more wizards to kill you. He'll have some kind of hefty enchantment up (stoneskin?). The *instant* he actually shows up (i.e. has the blue ring around him), pause. Employ the fake talk strategy: Have someone talk to him and unpause. Pause again (before anyone actually walks over and starts talking to him) and force-attack him while he still has the blue circle around him. You probably won't be able to hit him due to his powerful protection spells, but this doesn't matter. Every 5 seconds or so, back off and fake-talk him again. As long as you keep doing this, he won't go hostile and his friends won't gate in. Within a short period of time, his spell wears off and he returns to a more normal-looking color. He will now fall easily. After this, no more wizards will show up and attack you for spellcasting. Apparently, since he never gets to speak, the game never triggers any more attacks since the first attack was never completed. Since more wizards won't show up in the middle of a wizard attack if you cast spells, this catch gets applied for the rest of the game. This doesn't appear to screw anything up (it's just a flag not getting set to "true", shouldn't affect anything else. Hasn't yet in my game, anyway.) Protection from Magic Scrolls ----------------------------- Protection from Magic scrolls make whoever they are used on immune to magic, but also removes any buffs from the target, and makes it impossible for them to cast spells. So, instead of using them on yourself, you can also use them on an enemy mage and completely shut them down. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII.6 [BHLDRS] Beholders ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beholder Tactics: ----------------- [from Paul Dickinson] Beholders have interesting behavior patterns. If any party member is visible (and hostile), a beholder will immediately start pelting them with gaze attacks, cause wounds, slow, paralyze, petrify, or whatever. If not too busy pelting party members with nasty magic, they will move towards the nearest foe and chew on them. Note the distinction between foe and party member. Beholders don't seem to want to waste their gaze attacks on summoned creatures. This means that one can have a stealthy or invisible party member observing (and thus allowing control of the battle), while one or more summoned creatures trash the beholders, who have really pathetic physical attacks. The moon dog figurine works quite well here. It moves fast, can heal itself, and stays around for long enough to kill quite a few beholders. Berserkers: ----------- [from Xar] Give the Cloak of Reflection or Balduran Shield to a berserker and then sit back and watch. Why a berserker? Elder Orbs have Imprisonment and Berserkers are immune while berserk. (Managed to complete the Underdark Beholder zone with one character Korgan) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII.7 [MNDFLY] Mind Flayers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Invisible Stalker Strategy: --------------------------- [from Mishael] An easy way to kill Mind Flayers is to summon a bunch of Invisible Stalkers, then cast Haste on them. Invisible Stalkers are immune to all sorts of Mind control spells including charm, domination and confusion. As far as I know, they cannot be mind devoured. You may see some marks of confusion on their head, but they are not confused. You can control them as long as they are alive. :) Archery Strategy: ----------------- [from Jonathan Zimmerman] I wanted to share my battle strategy for the mind flayers in the Underdark. I use both pairs of boots of speed on my two best bowmen, and cast chaotic commands on them. I move the rest of my party off in a corner. The bowmen pop into a room with the flayers and start shooting arrows. While the flayers take time using their psionics, my fighters are pumping them full of arrows. Once they try to close and drain your intelligence, just back up and start firing again. They will never catch you. This works best if you've cleaned out the entire city, up to the first door you need a flayer to open. That way, you have plenty of room to run around. This strategy does use a lot of arrows, though. Editor's Note: Not if you have the Tansheron's Bow (from one of the Merchants in Trademeet). Bottleneck Fighting Strategy: ----------------------------- [from Henning Roes] Only one spell (chaotic command) and one fighter are involved. Cast it on your best melee fighter and he's protected from psionic blasts. This spell lasts for a long time. Then give him the best AC (-11 does it). Since Mind flayers have to hit your Fighter in melee they have to make a critical hit to drain the fighters brain. Just slaughter them while standing in the door so only one or two of them are able to attack. The INT-lowerance disappears after a short time so there's no need for a restoration-spell. Ullithids drain 4 or 5 levels (better than the usual Mind Flayer) - INT 5-6 is a must. Don't care about the Umber Hulks in the Under Dark. Use them as a shield while fighting and healthy. I finished the Mind Flayer City with only 1 spell and some healing potions. Even in the sewers in the Temple District it's very easy. Equip a shield to get a low AC. My fighter wasn't hasted or othwerwise improved. Kill Mind Flayers with Undead: ------------------------------ [from James Victor] Let someone cast Wizard's Eye and have it position itself wherever the mind flayers are situated. Have your mages/clerics cast animate dead and let the wizard eye guide them the way. Since animated skeletons have no brain, flayer's psionics are useless and since mindflayers have weak stats, they are easy to slaughter. For better results, have a cleric cast Strength of One and another spellcaster cast Haste for better results. A couple of batches of "enhanced" skeletons would do the trick. Editor's Note: The Wizard's Eye doesn't do anything itself, it is simply used so you can see where the skeletons are going. This way you can keep your party well away from the battle. Skeletons and Skeletal Warriors will still fall to Mind Flayers, so send in as many as you can. Use the Project Image trick if you need to. (Project Image, Animate Dead, Animate Dead, etc., repeat Mind Flayer Mind Control Collars: --------------------------------- [from Travis Archer] Some SPOILERS ahead. These devices are one-shot mind control items which never fail. Only 1 is necessary to get to the Elder brain, maybe 2 if you're unlucky. Which leaves 2 or 3 extra. These come in very handy in tough fights. These devices make the most impossible combats _easy_. The mob stays under your control until attacked. It won't leave the map, but it's still your pet when you come back. I used one on the Demilich, and one on Shangalar, because: The Demilich is probably the single hardest opponent because he Imprisons at will. He's immune to almost every spell, and he's beefy like an Adamantite Golem. (Weapons do 1-5 damage depending on enchantment) With one of these devices I made him my pet! On a funny note, you can make him Imprison himself, but then you don't get his loot or experience. :( So, I used Freedom and then just ambushed him while he was still "green". By the time he turned red he was dead. I used this on Shangalar and he wasted his buddies while I watched, then I finished him off. (Wait until he gets all his defenses up before you use it on him) This can be used on Dragons as well, which is amusing as hell, but not the Avatar of Rillifane who is immune to everything. :( ToB Note: This strategy doesn't work in ToB. Note: If you give the collars to your mage, then cast Project Image, you can use the image's collars and keep the real ones forever. Ring of Free Action: -------------------- [from John Welch] As I was going through the Illithid city in the underdark, I discovered something interesting that you have not mentioned. The ring of free action grants the wearer complete immunity to the flayer's psionic blasts. I realize that when you think about what psionic blast does (holds the person, to be killed), it makes perfect sense, but I thought it should be pointed out for those who may have more rings than they do fingers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII.8 [WRWLVS] Werewolves ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regenerating Monster Fighting: ------------------------------ [from Jeremy Treanor] I've found a lot of the battles with the monsters that regenerate quickly (greater werewolf, the prince in underdark, etc.) rather annoying when you can't seem to do enough damage to hurt him to 'barely injured', but I did find one trick that seems to work consistently. Firstly, you need to knock down some of its magic resistance. Cast harm and hope that your priest/druid is good enough to make contact. (Having autopause when a weapon becomes unusable helps too.) If you make contact, the creature should be down to about 1 point, so you hit him with a magic missile. Since his resistance should still be down, he should die. =============================================================================== < < < < < [FRQNTL] FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS > > > > > =============================================================================== Technical Questions: -------------------- Q: How can I use the cheats in Vista? A: Disable UAC, install somewhere other than the default location, or Run As Administrator. Or, you can follow this: Vista users need to open C:Program FilesBlack IsleBGII - SoA and then click on the 'Compatibility Files' tab. This will then take you to the location of the baldur.ini file that needs to be edited. Editing the baldur.ini file that appears when you first open C:Program FilesBlack IsleBGII - SoA will have no effect. Q: Is there a patch? What does it fix? A: Yes. This patch fixes all the major gaming problems I ever experienced with BG2, and since installing it I haven't had any major crashes. http://www.bioware.com/games/shadows_amn/support/patches/ Q: Is there a patch for Throne of Bhaal? A: Yes, and you can find it here: http://www.bioware.com/games/throne_bhaal/support/patches/ General Questions: ------------------ Q: What does 1d8+3 mean? Or any of the weapon damages? A: It means one 8-sided die is cast (random 1-8) then 3 is added. This is the same for any weapon. So, 1d8 is better than 1d6, etc. You can see more about this in my AD&D Rules FAQ found at GameFAQs. Q: Why does my armor class go down when I put on armor? A: You can find a more detailed answer on this in my AD&D Rules FAQ on GameFAQs. In short, low (or even negative) armor classes are better. Q: How do I backstab? A: Hide in Shadows (or drink an invisibility potion, or spell), get behind your target and attack. Q: How do I recover from level drain? A: Use the restoration or greater restoration spell. If you don't have that, head to a temple. Q: How do I recover from "Fallen" status on my Paladin / Ranger? A: Complete the stronghold for your class and that should clear you right up. Or, just keep your reputation from falling, and you will never fall. Q: Why aren't I gaining experience any more? A: Shadows of Amn has an experience cap at 2.95 million experience, and Throne of Bhaal has a cap at 8 million. Any experience gained past that is lost. You can use mods to remove this cap. The BG2 Tweak Pack by the Gibberlings 3 has a method to let you get to level 50. http://www.gibberlings3.net/ Q: In the spell descriptions it lists durations in terms of "Rounds" and "Turns." What are these? A: A round is 6 seconds long. When the game says you get "2 1/2" attacks per round, it means you get that many attacks every 6 seconds. A Turn is 10 Rounds long, or 60 seconds (1 Minute). Q: I'm a mage in the first dungeon, but I can't cast my spells! Help! A: Mage spellcasting is a 3 step process. First, learn the spell from a scroll. Second, choose which spells to "memorize" in your spellbook (default key: W). Third, rest to actually get the spells. This is the same for Bards as well. Sorcerers automatically learn spells when they level up, and merely need to rest to get them. Clerics / Druids will automatically learn spells as well, but need to select which spells to "memorize" for the day, and rest as well. Q: What is Imoen's Belt for? A: It prevents her from getting killed. It is used to prevent the game from going nowhere as she needs to survive the first dungeon. After that it isn't needed for plot purposes, and is taken away. As near as I can tell, it makes her immune to the following: Slay (& Instant Death magic) Charm Panic Berserk Sleep Hold Person Petrification Poison Stun Polymorph Q: I can't get Find Familiar to work. It keeps saying "FF must be cast by the Protagonist". What's wrong? How can I get it to work? A: The Protagonist is the main character. In the Single Player Game it is whoever you created yourself, while in the Multiplayer it is whoever is in the First slot. If this character CANNOT cast magic, then they can't Find a Familiar. Only the Protagonist can find a Familiar. So, if your Protagonist can't cast magic, you won't get a Familiar in your game. Even if you start with a Fighter, you can always Dual Class over to a Mage later and THEN cast Find Familiar. Works just the same. Q: When I fight an enemy, it says that my weapon is "ineffective". How then can I kill anything? A: Two reasons your weapon can be ineffective: One, that monster requires a magical weapon of certain magnitude to hit (say a +1 weapon), or Two, they have Magical Defenses around them (such as Protection from Normal Weapons). In the first case you need to find a better weapon, or try casting spells. In the second, you have to lower their defenses first, try casting the Breach spell. (Mage Lvl5) Also, any monster that has 100% resistance to a type of weapon will result in a "weapon ineffective" notice. Clay Golems are a good example of this, as they can't be hurt by blades. Q: I want to Dual Class, but the button is grayed out on the Records page. How can I Dual Class? A: In order to Dual you must meet these requirements: First your character MUST be Human. Only humans can dual class. Second your character must START from a class that CAN dual. (Bards, Paladins, Sorcerers, Monks and Barbarians CANNOT dual) Third you must have good stats in both your current class, and the one you wish to dual to. This works out to at least a 15 in the prime stat of your current class, and a 17 in the prime stat in your desired class. (Prime stat is what that class uses most, for example, STR for fighters, DEX for thieves, WIS for priests, and INT for mages) So, to dual a Kensai to a mage, you must have 15 STR and 17 INT. To dual a Fighter to a Thief you must have 15 STR and 17 DEX. There are also Alignment restrictions on which class you can become. Thieves, for instance, cannot be Lawful Good. So if you have a Human Kensai with the appropriate stats, but are Lawful Good, then you CANNOT dual to a Thief. Druids must be True Neutral, etc. Q: Okay, I dual classed my thief, but now I can't use my thief skills! A: Yes, while you are leveling up your new class, your old abilities are "retired." They come back when your new class level exceeds your old class level. So, if you were a level 2 thief, you must level 3 or more in the new class to be able to use your thief skills again. Also, you cannot gain levels in your old class ever again. So, make sure you are done with the class before moving on, and make sure as well that you won't need your old class's skills for a while as well. For instance, if you dual Yoshimo to fighter, you could consider picking up Jan to be your thief for a while. Q: I dualled a Berserker to a Mage, but I can't cast spells. Why not? A: You need to download the patch to get that combination to work: http://www.bioware.com/bgate2/bg2patch.shtml Once that patch is installed, your Berserker/Mage should work fine. Also remember that you can't cast spells while in armor. Q: How do I recharge Wands and other items with limited Charges? A: Sell them to the store and rebuy them. Sure you take a financial hit, but the items come back with 50-100 charges to them. Q: What does a weapon's speed factor do? A: Influences when your character can attack, the lower the number the better. Let's say that there are two identical characters facing off. Each has 3 attacks per round. One is using a Heavy Long Sword with a Speed of 10, the other is using a Superlight Long Sword with a Speed of 0. The lighter sworded warrior will get to attack first, possibly even attacking twice before the other warrior gets in one attack. Thus having a low speed can allow you to kill monsters before they even touch you. Note: Speed does not affect how many attacks you get per round. If it says 3 attacks per round, that is how many you get, regardless of speed. Q: What do I do with all these gems I get? A: There are very few gems with a purpose. Most are just for sale to get yourself some money. However, you might want to save a Diamond, Beljuril and Rogue Stone as these can be significant later. The Diamond and Beljuril are used to upgrade the Silver Horn of Valhalla and the Rogue Stone is used to enter the Mysterious Door in the Bridge District. Q: I cheated to create a Familiar for a character that normally doesn't get a Familiar (Fighter, for instance). Now, when it is created and put into the pack, everything is fine, however if I release it again, it vanishes. Also the Familiar changes from the one I created, to a different type (one that now matches my alignment). What's up with this? A: [from Harry Smith] I've played around with the familiars more, and it is the mixed alignment problem that kills it. The trick works just fine as long as the familiar that you are getting is the proper one for your alignment. It also appears to work fine for other alignments, as long as you don't put the familiar in your backpack. That's a pretty big limitation, but perhaps some people would be willing to live with it. This might be something to add to the FAQ to let people know what they're getting into before they waste their time on something that can't be done. Q: Why can't Imoen (or any other dual/multi classed Mage) cast spells? The entire icon is grayed out. A: You can't cast mage spells while wearing any armor. So, if you are wearing some Studded Leather Armor, your mage spells will be deactivated. Also note that Robes do not count as armor. Q: Where is the bag of holding? A: In the maze beneath spellhold. (Chapter 4) Q: What is fatigue? A: It penalizes your party by -1 to luck. Luck affects all your party's "rolls", such as THAC0 (your ability to hit), Saving Throws (your ability to not be affected by spells and such), Damage, etc. Your luck gets worse the longer you go without resting. Q: I didn't preorder or buy the Collector's Edition. Is there a way that I can get those items anyway? A: Yes, just download a little fix. Quick Fix: http://www.sorcerers.net/index.shtml and check the Games > Baldur's Gate II > Editors, Hacks & Custom Characters > http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/BG2extras.zip Q: Will there be an Expansion? Sequel? A: Yes, it is called Throne of Bhaal and you should go out and buy it. As for a sequel, well... maybe. Though, if there is a sequel, I really doubt it will use the same game engine. Shadows of Amn Questions: ------------------------- Q: What is the broken sword for in Irenicus's dungeon? Can I repair it? A: It's just a broken sword. Probably a reference to the first game and the iron shortage. No, you can't repair it. Just ignore it. Q: Anomen just left to deal with his sister's muder. Where did he go? A: You can see the whole walkthrough on this in the Slums section of the walkthrough. If he leaves, you may find him at the Delryn home in the Government District. Q: Where is Edwin? I searched the Shadow Thieves Guild, but couldn't find him! A: You have to talk to Renal Bloodscalp on the second floor of the Shadow Thieves Guild. Then in the course of doing his quests you will run into Edwin. This is the ONLY way to get Edwin to join your party. And if you have already joined up with Bodhi, you can't get Edwin to join you. So, if you want to do both, get Edwin first. John Messinger states that if you have Yoshimo in your party, when you visit the Docks he'll let you talk to Renal again. Q: I have Viconia, Edwin or Korgan in my party and a reputation of 18. How can I lower my reputation to keep these people in my group? A: Go hit a peasant. Preferably one in a house where other people won't see you (if too many people see you, they all go hostile and you can potentially ruin the game). It isn't necessary to kill the peasant, simply hitting them should be sufficient (use your fists, unless you are a monk). Or you could find a shop somewhere that you don't have much respect for, and steal from it. They catch you stealing and your reputation suffers. Finally there are several quests that if done in an EVIL manner will drop your reputation somewhat. These are noted in the walkthrough. Just do a document search for "reputation". (in IE, do a CTRL-F) Be careful not to let your reputation drop too low. For one thing, it will cause Paladins and Rangers to become "fallen" (lose their abilities) and another, at really low reputations you become a target for every law enforcement person in the area. Notably, if you get one of these people to join when your reputation is already higher than 18, they will stick around. If your reputation changes and is still higher than 18 (such as going from 20 to 19) then they will leave. SPOILER Once you can turn into the Slayer, you can drop your reputation by 2 points any time you please. Q: Viconia/Edwin/Korgan just took off and left, how do I get them back? A: They likely left due to reputation concerns (see the above question). When they leave like this, there isn't a real way to get them back. Q: I've messed up the Drow city (they won't let me in, etc.), how can I get out of the Underdark? A: 2 ways: 1.) After talking to Adalon and taking the form of a Drow, talk to the Drow guards in the Kuo-Toa dungeon. If you have high charisma, you can convince them that you are joining the war topside, and they let you out. 2.) Kill Adalon and loot her corpse. (answer from Khadgar) Q: I'm having difficulty with the Harper's and Jaheira. Every time I leave the Underdark, I'm attacked by the Harper's, which in turn makes the elves hostile. How do I deal with this? A: Answer from Baldurdash's Bug List page. Download the Improved Jaheira Romance Script: http://www.baldurdash.org/ This fixes several buggy aspects of the romance. You can find the Baldurdash Bug List here: http://www.baldurdash.org/buglist.html The Baldurdash patch has been largely replaced by the Gibberlings 3 Fixpack found at: htt://www.gibberlings3.net/ Q: How do I open the un-pickable door in the Graveyard? A: It's a plot-opened door. It opens when it needs to. Q: How do I get back into Bodhi's Lair? The door won't open! A: Referring to Baldurdash's nifty Buglist, we find a small download to fix this problem: http://www.baldurdash.org/FixedBG2BodhiLairInaccessible.zip The address for Baldurdash's Buglist is: http://www.baldurdash.org/buglist.html Q: Phaere told me to go to the SE corner of Ust Natha to fight some Beholders, but when I get to her, she has nothing to say to me! What do I do? A: With the Cheat Console, type in this: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("PHAERESPEAKBEHOLD","GLOBAL",0) This resets her conversation about the beholders allowing you to talk to her again about it. [from Marc Oliver] Q: Who is this Malchor Harpell chap that I keep running into? Every time I go somewhere, he teleports after me. A: Malchor is the game's built in defense to you killing Drizzt and stealing his stuff. He should only appear after Bodhi has been finally dealt with to reclaim any gear from any member of Drizzt's party who has died. If you refuse to simply give the gear up, he will simply steal it back anyway. From what I have heard, this doesn't work quite right and he is unable to talk to you. To get rid of him, simply dump all of Drizzt's items. Q: Help me with these romances! How do I get Viconia/Aerie/Anomen/Jaheira to like me? A: They will automatically start a romance with you by virtue of your main character's gender. If you show interest in Jaheira, (or anyone) then you are stuck with them (at least until you stop showing interest). The main reason I don't mention the romances in this guide much is that it is completely optional, and doesn't help your game out much. Sure, it will affect your game a lot if you are suddenly attacked by Bandits (Jaheira), but you won't get anything significant out of it, save for the love of one half-elven druid. Q: After restoring my lover after the mess in the Graveyard, I can't find their stuff. Where is it? A: Anytime someone dies, their stuff is merely dropped to the ground. So, when they died their stuff was left where they fell. If you didn't grab it then, it's gone. Waiting for them to be revived later is too late. Throne of Bhaal Questions: -------------------------- Q: I'm playing through Shadows of Amn, should I install Throne of Bhaal now, or wait until I'm finished? A: Install it right away. Then you get the benefits from the expansion, can play through the Watcher's Keep dungeon, and get the higher experience cap. Q: The deck of many things has silenced/drained me. How do I remove the effect? A: Remove Curse. Generally speaking, if Greater Restoration doesn't get rid of something, try Remove Curse. Q: I forgot to do Watcher's Keep before starting ToB. Can I go back? A: Yes, you can. After you complete the first area and open up the world map, you'll find it in the upper section of the map. Send in all questions to: dsimpson.faqs@gmail.com Use this subject: Baldur's Gate II v 8.71 (emails with improper subjects MAY BE DELETED!) =============================================================================== < < < < < [WLKTHR] WALKTHROUGH > > > > > =============================================================================== This walkthrough was written on my second go-through of the game. The first time I played as a Kensai who dualled to a Mage at level 12. She was very powerful, able to cast spells and fight all with a -5 AC (by the end of the game). Not bad since she can't wear armor. The second time through the game (when I wrote this walkthrough) I played as a Half-Orc Barbarian. 19 STR & CON, plus 2 extra HP each level. Then for fun he dual-wielded the Celestial Fury Katana and the Equalizer Long Sword. Location Note: Throughout the walkthrough I use various locations listed in the (x 900 y 400) format. This means that what I am talking about is 900 pixels from the left and 400 from the top. To find your location press the X button on your keyboard. This displays the x,y at the mouse cursor. You can change the location key to anything you want by opening the Baldur's Gate II Configuration Program in the start menu. Battles Note: If you go somewhere at a lower level the enemies will be easier than if you go there at a higher level. Say, for instance, that you go to the Windspear Hills and fight an Iron Golem. Then you reload before that, go level up a lot, and return. Now you might be facing a tougher Adamantite Golem. In other words, the battles are more difficult the higher a level you are. Options Note: There are a number of options that I would HIGHLY recommend anyone playing the game use. First is the "Rest Until Healed" option which lets your party rest until everyone has full Hp's. It is implied that your Priest's cast healing spells on everyone. This can be found under Game Options. Second I would recommend turning the Brightness and Contrast up a bit in Graphics options. Makes things a LOT easier to find. Lastly, if you are constantly saving/reloading to get more HP per level or to memorize spells successfully, you should probably play at the NORMAL difficulty level. Those things are the ONLY differences between NORMAL and CORE. Note: Bioware/Black Isle recommends turning up the Brightness on your monitor itself, rather than in-game as low end computers can suffer from performance problems. (Blackhawk) Experience Note: When completing quests throughout the game, there are two types of experience that can be given to your characters. The first is when it says "The Party gains 20,000 experience". In this case, that experience is divided equally amongst party members. So, if you have 5 people in your party (including you), then everyone gets 4,000 exp. However, there are times when it says "Edwin gains 20,000 Quest Experience Points" and may even list such for everyone in the party. In these cases everyone gets that amount of exp. Finally there are some times when it won't list in the status window how many experience points you gain. I list these, and will mention whether they are mere experience to be divided, or whether everyone gets that amount. Items Note: If you leave items on the ground in the game world, they will (from the Readme) disappear after a period of time (with a few special items as exceptions). Bodies will begin to decay from the world after about half a day. Items will begin to decay from the world after a day or two. Some game critical items will never decay. If you want to stash items, put them inside any container. For example; a chest, bookshelf, or box. All container contents (with the exceptions of piles of treasure on the ground) are saved for the duration of the game - just be sure you can easily return to retrieve your favorite goodies. I would heartily recommend using the containers in your Stronghold to store any item you wish to part with. For example, with the Fighter Stronghold, every week you get 500 gold placed in one container in the library on the second floor. Since you are going that way anyway, why not stash items there? You can really put the items in any container, just so long as you remember where you put your things. Warning: Do NOT stash items in a stronghold BEFORE IT IS YOURS. This is because the AREA number actually changes, and your items become inaccessible. Wait until you actually take possession of your Stronghold. Finally, if you are given items in dialogue, but don't have room in your inventory, you will drop items to make room. Make sure not to lose them! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. [RNCSDN] Chapter 1: Irenicus' Dungeon (AR 0602) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- The game starts as you are being tortured by a mage (Jon Irenicus, though you don't learn his name until later) for no apparent purpose. He mentions that you have much untapped potential. Soon his experiments are interrupted when a Golem informs him of an attack. He teleports away. You can watch as a Thief gets blown to bits. Funky. Soon Imoen rescues you. She tells you what she knows, which isn't much, before opening your cage and letting you out. Companions: ----------- S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment Imoen 9 18 16 17 11 16 Human Thief/Mage Neutral Good Imoen is your old childhood friend from Candlekeep. In the first game she was a Thief, and now she has dual classed to become a Mage. SPOILER: Don't let Imoen memorize any spells as she won't be with your party for much longer. Grade: B+ She is the third best thief you can get in the game and the second best mage. This averages out well, especially since this game doesn't require that much out of a thief. I list her as "third best thief" because she can't level up in it anymore. Minsc 18/93 16 16 8 6 9 Human Ranger Chaotic Good Minsc is a little loopier than last you saw him. This may be due to the death of Dynaheir -- whom he was sworn to protect -- but he seems to rely far too much on Boo, his pet hamster. Grade: A- Minsc is one of the best investments you can have in the game. He is the strongest of the NPC's and has decent abilities as well. Plus he soon begins learning Priest spells which further his power. Jaheira 15 17 17 10 14 15 Half-Elf Fighter/Druid True Neutral Jaheira has some problems with authority, which in this case would be you. She believes that she should be leader. She is also a member of the Harper's, a "do-gooder" organization that also claims Elminster as a member. Grade: B A good solid performer, but nothing to write home about. There are better Priests out there, and better Fighters out there as well. The best reason to keep her is her Druid abilities as she is the best druid for some time. At the moment you really have no choice but to take her. Walkthrough: ------------ - FREE MINSC AND JAHEIRA Minsc - (AR 0602, x 4030 y 2760) You need some companions to help you out, and it's quite convenient to have two of them just to the north of you. Go east and north and Minsc will automatically talk to you. Tell him that you don't think much of his talents to enrage him and get him to break the bars that hold him in. (1,2,3,1) Minsc breaks free, and luckily enough, he realizes what you were doing and doesn't stay berserked. You can have Minsc join you, if you will (and I would). For freeing Minsc you get 3000 experience. Jaheira - (AR 0602, x 3900 y 2675) Getting Jaheira out requires only a little more effort. First go north and talk to Jaheira. (4,2) Agree to free her. Now you just need to find a key to free her. Go left into the room there (x 3250 y 2850). There are three containers in this room: a table with weapons, a chest with armors and a TRAPPED painting with potions. The key to free Jaheira is on the table (x 3050 y 2815). Freeing Jaheira nets you 3000 more experience. - EXPLORING THE DUNGEON The next thing you need to do is to go back to the northern room and equip everyone with the items there. Have Imoen de-trap the painting to get those treasures as well: Dagger +1 3 Healing Potions (If you imported from BG1 with the Golden Pantaloons, they'll be here) Talk to the Jailkeep Golem (x 2950 y 2850) and pump him for information. He won't attack you and you have no possible way to damage him yet. He won't reveal much to you, just leaving you with more questions than before. Note: If you want to kill the Jailkeep Golem, have a Priest use the spell Spiritual Hammer and attack him with that. He is worth 5000 experience. You can also use the Quarterstaff +1 found later in the level. Open the northern door (x 2865 y 2815). Go north a ways to find your first enemy of the game, a lowly Smoke Mephit (420 exp). There's nothing you can do in this passage, so go back to the torture room. Head into the southwest passage (x 3315 y 3235). There your character will note the many bodies in the hall. Continue. - THE LIGHTNING MACHINE After the passage turns north, there will be a big glowing Lightning Machine (x 2650 y 3160). What this does is spit out Lightning Mephits, which shoot Lighting Bolts at you. (naturally) To deactivate the machine, click on its control panel twice (once to see what it does, and another time to do it). (x 2835 y 3060) Also, you MUST be standing RIGHT NEXT TO the machine to turn it off. You get 2000 exp for doing so. Turning it off immediately means you won't get experience for fighting the mephits. Don't worry about losing a few hit points, you'll get healed by the genie in the next room. Note: Most "manipulatable" items like the Lightning Machine require 2 clicks. The first tells you what the thing is, and the second actually uses it. Then just kill the Mephit (420 exp) and be on your way. Go northwest into the Crystal Room. - AATAQAH THE GENIE Almost immediately you will be confronted by Aataqah, a genie. There are several options on what to do with this fellow. If you talk to him he will want to ask you questions. If you answer that you will "Push the Button" he summons an Ogre Mage (650 exp) for you to fight you also get 3500 exp. If you answer to NOT "Push the Button" he summons Gibberlings. Or you could ignore him and he'll leave you alone. Beat his monsters and he tells you to seek out Rielev. Note: There are three pools of water in this room. Clicking on each of them several times will result in several different "visions". These offer you nothing but an interesting read. The northern passage leads to a locked door, so we go west (x 1450 y 2660). - FINDING RIELEV In this western passage you will be attacked by goblins. Goblins are super weak enemies, who can only hurt you with their bows. Rush their archers and they're done for. This passage ends in a threeway fork. We're going up and right (northeast) first. (x 890 y 2200) Within this room we find another Golem, this time a Sewage Golem, along with a Radiation Mephit (420 exp). Talk to the Golem and impersonate its "master". Try and tell it to get to work (to open that door we passed by) and it informs you that you need a certain GEM to get it to do anything. (Technically, you can just pickpocket it to get the Sewer key, however this loses you some experience later) There are four containers in this room: the center table, another table and bookcase to the left, and a chest to the right: Spells - Flame Arrow (Mage) Dispel Magic (Mage) Healing Potion 3 Potions Extra Healing 5 Arrows War Hammer Spear Medium Shield 2 Scimitars Long Sword +1 We're done in here, on to the lower left room (x 600 y 2400). In here there are a lot of tanks, though you won't find out what these are until a little later. There is a Steam Mephit (420 exp) in here. Shortly Imoen will pipe up about this place. At the end of this room is an Ice Mephit. There are three containers in here: a crate (x 675 y 2705), a barrel (x 825 y 3045) and another TRAPPED crate (x 1033 y 3025): 1 Gold 5 Arrows Short Bow 6 Bullets (for a sling) Quarterstaff +1 We're done in here for the moment, now into the last corridor (x 580 y 2280). There is a door (x 520 y 2000) here, but there's only a couple lesser Clay Golems in it. They won't attack you... yet. If you want you can fight them now, but you're better off waiting. Clay Golem Note: When fighting Clay Golems use BLUNT weaponry. Bladed weapons have no effect, but Blunt weapons work as normal. Clubs, maces, morningstars, staves, etc. Further along the corridor splits again, one end leading to a door, the other to goblins. Kill the goblins first, then go open the door (x 1010 y 1745). There is only one Tube in here, walk up to it and Rielev will talk with you. If you agree to help "free" him and the others in the tube he gives you a Crystal so that you can talk to the Tube-people and you also get 4000 experience. Search the table (x 1280 y 1585) to find the Sewage Golem's Activation Stone. There is also a barrel (x 1275 y 1400): 2 Healing Potions Sling 8 Bullets Halberd War Hammer Go back to the Sewage Golem, impersonate the Master again and give him the Activation Stone. You get 3000 experience, and he runs off to open the center doors. You can then go back to the Tube Room and use the crystal on every tube that you can. (not necessary) - THE LIBRARY Back to the corridor along to the next door (x 1040 y 1085). Open it and enter the library. In here there are goblins, a Smoke Mephit and a Fire Mephit. Most of these bookshelves hold only books, but some have more. The shelf at (x 950 y 760) has an: Agni Mani Necklace The shelf at (x 850 y 850), which is the next one to the left, has: Spells - Larloch's Minor Drain (Mage) 5 Healing Potions The shelf at (x 1050 y 820), the one to the southeast, has: Spells - Know Alignment (Mage) The shelf at (x 1450 y 820), which is eastwards, has: Oil of Speed And the last shelf (x 1650 y 950) has: Potion of Extra Healing Now we have two choices on which direction to go, and we're going to take the south and east passage to the sewer section first. - THE OTYUGH Take this passage all the way into the next room, which is the sewer area for this dungeon. You will find an Otyugh here, which has the annoying tendency to Disease and Slow your people (650 exp). Search its body to find the: Wand of Frost Key This is the first of several keys like this. Others include the Wand of Missiles Key and Wand of Cloudkill key. These are used on the next level of this dungeon. The passage to the left is filled with goblins and leads to the Crystal Room, and the passage down leads back to the Torture Room. Neither place we want to be. There are three openable chests in here, all around the stairs to the northeast passage. Open them (x 2725 y 2735), (x 2735 y 1810), (x 2900 y 1880): (one is TRAPPED) Spells - Vocalize (Mage) Clairvoyance (Mage) Splint Mail Oil of Speed 7 Potions of Healing Light Crossbow 10 Bolts Helm of Infravision Open the northeast door (x 2815 y 1725) and go up that passage. Kill the goblins and go through the door at the end of the tunnel. - IRENICUS' ROOM There are three traps in this room, one on the carpet and two on the containers in here. There are four containers in here around his bed and fireplace: 2 Bookcases, a chest and a drawer: Spells - Chromatic Orb (Mage) Burning Hands (Mage) Helm of Balduran (+5 HP, +1 AC) ** Wand of Lightning Key Air Elemental Statue Metaspell Influence Amulet ** If you imported from BG1, this item could be one of these (depending on what you had): (Carl Pettersson) Default HELM07, Helm of Balduran (it's this if you didn't import) MISC72, The Claw of Kazgaroth MISC73, The Horn of Kazgaroth RING25, Koveras' Ring of Protection Go east and later south to find the Dryads. They beg you to help them, so agree to it. At the moment, however, we head south into the next chamber (x 3500 y 2150). Be sure to check for traps here, as there are many. When you enter the room an alarm goes off that sends those Lesser Clay Golems out this way. There are four containers in here: a drawer north of the bed (x 3075 y 2210), a chest at the foot of the bed (x 3110 y 2300), a bookshelf south of the bed (x 3010 y 2390) and a table east of the shelf (x 3170 y 2470): Spells - Monster Summoning I (Mage) Dire Charm (Mage) Potion of Extra Healing Bracers AC 8 Pommel Jewel of the Equalizer (part 1 of 3 Equalizer parts) Portal Key (which allows us to leave this level) Potion of Master Thievery Go back to Irenicus' Room. Right now we have everything we need to complete this level and go on to the next. However, there are two more quests to complete (see Quests below) and some more rooms to explore. Go northwest into the Portal Room. Here there are many more goblins to be slaughtered mercilessly. There are a couple of containers here. A vase (x 3120 y 820) and a barrel (x 3344 y 810): Spells - Armor (Mage) Fireball (Mage) 20 Bullets When you are done with this level, enter the Portal to go to the next one. (You can come back at any time until you leave the dungeon) You may want to do some of the quests below first. Quests: ------- QUEST: Free the Dryads Dryads - Irenicus' Dungeon (AR 0602, x 4141 y 1370) Fairy Queen - Windspear Hills (AR 1200, x 4050 y 3050) This quest is really divided into two parts, one we can do now and the other we must do later. The first part is Getting the Acorns. From the library take the northwest passage up. It then turns right and then south. This leads to a room with 6 Duergar in it: Ilyich (fighter), 2 fighters, 2 crossbowmen and a mage. Search Ilyich to find the Acorns. The rest of the Duergar have piddling treasures such as Gold. There are also a number of containers in this room, with a spell and some Potions of Extra Healing. (and some non-magical equipment.) Take the Acorns back to the Dryads to learn what you must do with them. They tell you to take the Acorns to the Windspear Hills and give them to their Queen. For this you get 9500 experience. Ilyich's Armor is one of these things: (Carl Pettersson) Default CHAN03, Mail of The Dead +2 (if you did NOT import) LEAT03, Protector of the Second +2 PLAT02, Plate Mail +1 LEAT06, Missile Attraction +2 (CURSED) CHAN07, Chain Mail +3 You can't get to the Windspear Hills at the moment, but you will once you exit this place. Go to the Copper Coronet in the Slums and talk to a man named Jierdan there. (Warning! Jierdan's quest is difficult and annoying, so you may want to do this later!) He has a quest for you to do, and updates your map to include the Windspear Hills. Then you have to travel to the Gate section of Athkatla, and from there you can exit and go to the Hills. You will find the queen in the southeast part of the map. Give her the Acorns to free the Dryads. You get 32,500 experience and 9750 exp. QUEST: Free the Genie Plane of Air Door (AR 0602, x 1967 y 264) Genie (AR 0601, x 310 y 560) Dryads (AR 0602, x 4141 y 1370) Just north of the Duergar chamber, where we killed Ilyich to get the Acorns is a door. The key to this door is the Air Elemental Statue that we got from Irenicus' chamber. Open the door and enter the Elemental Plane of Air. There are many, many different types of Mephits in this area. Be cautious, some have nasty powers. Go north along the path. Take the first left (x 1720 y 1300) and follow this path all the way to the left to a big giant fan. Just under the fan is a container full of treasure: Spells - Conjure Air Elemental (Mage) Go back to the first path, and then head north. Fight your way through the Mephits here to get to the path to the left. At the end of this path is a lamp. Manipulate the lamp to talk to the genie. He offers you a trade, you free him and he gives you an item of yours. All he needs is a Flask. Note: Gunslinger points out that you could just Pickpocket the Genie to get the Sword he carries. You may need to use some potions of master thievery, but it is possible. Leave this place and go find the Dryads. Talk to them to get the Flask from them, then return to the Genie and give him the Flask. For your trouble you get 15,000 experience and a Two Handed Sword of Chaos +2.** Note: The dryads will NOT give you the flask until you have gained the acorns. ** If you imported from BG1, you may get a different item: (Carl Pettersson) Default SW1H24, Two-Handed Sword of Chaos +2 HAMM03, War Hammer +2: 'Ashideena' AX1H07, Bala's Axe HALB03, Halberd +2: 'Suryris' Blade' DAGG04, Dagger +2: Longtooth STAF07, Staff Spear +2 STAF06, Staff Mace +2 SLNG03, Sling +3 SW1H06, Long Sword +2: 'Varscona' BLUN11, BLUN10, The Root of the Problem BLUN09, Kiel's Morningstar QUEST: Kill a Cambion Cambion (AR 0602, x 2600 y 1030) Past the Duergar chamber and the Plane of Air door (careful of the trap in the passage) is a room with a weird machine, and a Cambion trapped in a bubble. Get close to the machine and manipulate it two times to free the demon. Kill it and steal its treasures: Cambion - 6000 experience Bastard Sword +1 146 Gold Chainmail Armor ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 [DNGLV2] Irenicus' Dungeon Level 2 (AR 0603) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- When you arrive here, Yoshimo comes up and talks to you. He can join with you and you probably should take him. Further he offers some advice as to what you will face on this level, what traps and so forth. Companions: ----------- S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment Yoshimo 17 18 16 13 10 14 Human Bounty Hunter True Neutral Yoshimo, feared by all, somehow managed to get himself captured and thrown into this dungeon with the rest of you. Why Irenicus would be interested in him is beyond me. Grade: B+ There are several reasons to like Yoshimo: First he is the best thief in the game (he is the ONLY pure thief class and has a good Dex score as well) and second he can Dual Class to a Fighter later. If only he could dual to a mage as well... Walkthrough: ------------ - MEPHIT PORTAL ROOM Just left of the Portal (x 315 y 2875) is a small box with: Spells - Hold Person (Mage) Open the door to the right (x 885 y 2820) to enter the Mephit Portal Room. Here you will battle many different Mephits. Also there are four big portals that must be destroyed (fight them as enemies) to keep more Mephits from teleporting in. Each Mephit Portal is worth 5000 experience to destroy for a total of 20,000 exp! Trick: The portals produce an infinite number of mephits, which can be a great way to level up if you dual-classed your character at the start of the game. If you destroy three of the four portals and then cast the appropriate energy-protection spell on yourself, you can easily gain a level or two within 5-10 minutes. [from jsaving] On a table is a body, and when Jaheira gets near it she realizes that it is Khalid, her husband. And he's quite dead. She is distraught over this for a time, but refuses to try to raise him. (something about it being unnatural) Note: If you are "insensitive" to Jaheira here, she will leave forever. By "insensitive" I mean, repeatedly telling her to try to raise Khalid. There are 6 containers in this room, bookshelves, barrels, tables and chests. (x 775 y 2650), (x 875 y 2650), (x 1040 y 2515), (x 1260 y 1350), (x 1420 y 2520), (x 1350 y 2580): Ziose Gem Andar Gem Cursed Scroll of Weakness 40 gold Gold Ring 2 Extra Healing Potions Wand of Cloudkill Key Wand of Fire Key Wand of Summoning Key Bastard Sword 5 Arrows 3 Bolts +1 Silver Ring We now have almost all the keys we'll need. There are two doors along the northeastern wall. Open the left door (x 1125 y 2375) and go in. Here is yet another Tube Room, where an assassin is fighting an escaped clone. She kills the assassin and turns on you (there's nothing you can say to avoid a fight). Kill her. Escaped Clone - 1250 exp Wand of Missiles Key Dagger There are 2 searchable barrels in here, with such things as a Fireball spell and a Pearl Necklace. Return to the Mephit Room, and open the last door (x 1300 y 2230). - THE GREAT WAND TRAP Along this passage you find an assassin fighting an Ice Mephit. Kill the Mephit and the assassin turns on you. Not very thankful since you just saved his life! Kill him for 750 experience. Continue up the passage. There will be a group of goblins with a Mephit just before the door to the Great Wand Trap (x 560 y 1390). There is a trap on this bridge, disarm it, cross and go through the next door. There is an assassin here facing off against several Duergar. The assassin gets himself killed by the Great Wand Trap. And if you wait long enough the Duergar will kill themselves the same way as well. Along the left wall are several columns. Sneak up to these columns and manipulate them. One of your keys will vanish and be replaced by the appropriate Wand (with only one charge). Even better is the fact that part of the trap is disarmed making this room a little safer to traverse. Disarm all 6 columns and the room is safe. Note: If you find that you are missing one of the keys, it's usually the one from the Otyugh on the previous level. The statue at the end of the hall (x 2000 y 350) has a Ring of Protection +1. From this point there are four passages out of this room (not counting the one we came in from). The passage nearest to the entrance on the right leads to the exit. The other three lead to monsters and treasures and are covered in Quests below. - ESCAPING IRENICUS' DUNGEON Once you're done with the other passages (assuming you did any of them), go down the first passage on the left (x 1380 y 1125). The next room (x 1750 y 1750) has an assassin in it who talks to you, but there is no way to avoid a battle here. Beat the 4 or 5 assassins and swipe their gold. Leave this room to the southeast. This is a part of the sewer system of Athkatla. Follow it northwards to the exit at (x 3450 y 1415). I would make an Archived Save here as you can't come back once you leave. Quests: ------- QUEST: The Doppleganger Passage Go southeast along the middle passage on the right (x 1740 y 900). Open the door into a storage room. A little further south you will see a fat old man in a glass cell, Frennedan. He talks to you and begs for you to release him. Agree to do so. (If you refuse to help him, he turns into a little boy!) Search the storage room. There are three containers, a TRAPPED bookcase at the top of the room (x 2500 y 1200), a TRAPPED chest to the left (x 2240 y 1340) and a normal locked chest under that (x 2240 y 1400): Frennedan's Key (in the trapped chest) Spells - Invisibility (Mage) Knock (Mage) 5 Potions of Healing 4 Elixirs of Health 1 Potion of Firebreath Scroll of Protection from Electricity Once you have the key, open the cell and let Frennedan out. There are two times when Frennedan will attack you, at a set amount of time from being freed and at a set range from his cell. So, no matter what he will transform and attack you. May as well kill him now. (3000 exp) Search his cell for more treasures. There are 5 containers in here, two bookcases, a TRAPPED chest and two tables: Spells - Color Spray (Mage) Blindness (Mage) Blur (Mage) 4 Bolts +1 4 Arrows +1 6 Bullets +1 2 Potions of Extra Healing Oil of Speed Cursed Scroll of Foolishness 101 gold QUEST: The Vampire Passage The vampire passage is easy to find as it is the only door on the left side of the Wand Trap Room. (x 1330 y 590) Open the door and go in. There is a battle between assassins and a Vampire going on here. Kill the vampire to get 8000 exp (though you should notice that she simply turns to mist and flies away). Any surviving assassins must also be killed. There are no treasures in here, but 8000 exp isn't bad. Note: You can have Imoen cast web (or do it yourself if you are a mage) into the room where the vampire kills a few of the attacking shadow thieves. Wait until the vampire is stuck and then charge in and hammer it or have Imoen hang back casting spells at it (like magic missile and fireball). Killing this vampire will not stop Bodhi from letting you join later. Also using a web spell to trap enemies and then hitting them with a fireball or two is a good tactic for mages. [from Nathaniel Ragatz] QUEST: The Duergar Passage Head southeast down the farthest passage (x 2085 y 640). There will be a group of goblins in the middle of a forge room. Go northeast from here to find a group of Duergar, including one mage. Kill them. There are 4 containers in here, a small box to the left (x 3375 y 630), two chests on top of each other (x 3585 y 685) and a big table to the right (x 3550 y 825): Spells - Charm Person (Mage) 100 Gold Dagger (after this, such things are listed as "Minor Treasures") 2 Extra Healing Potions 3 Potions of Healing 80 Arrows (Minor Treasure) Short Bow (Minor Treasure) 40 Bolts (Minor Treasure) 7 Bolts +1 Heavy Crossbow (Minor Treasure) Splint Mail (Minor Treasure) Mace (Minor Treasure) Chainmail (Minor Treasure) Girdle of Bluntness (AC +4 vs. Blunt weapons) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. [WKNSPR] Chapter 2: Waukeen's Promenade (AR 0700) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- You emerge from Irenicus' dungeon to find Irenicus himself battling with several shadow thieves. He easily bests them. Imoen then tries a magic missile out on Irenicus. It doesn't do much and looks like you might be captured again. Then the Cowled Wizards arrive and battle Irenicus. Although he might have beaten them, he decides to go with them... if they take Imoen as well. This starts Chapter 2 and everyone in your party gets 34,500 experience. Companions: ----------- S D C I W Ch Race Class Alignment Aerie 10 17 9 16 16 14 Elf Cleric/Mage Lawful Good Aerie is a winged elf. Well former winged elf as her wings were removed some time ago. She had been a slave before meeting up with Quayle and joining the circus. Location: The Circus (See below) Grade: C+ A cleric/mage combines all magics into one (not Druid spells, but nobody's perfect), which is an incredible bonus. Except that she has rather weak stats. She doesn't excel anywhere, no single one stat stands out. As such she isn't worth keeping around for very long. Event: 3-5 days after you get Aerie, a messenger will arrive from Quayle telling her to return to the circus. Once there, Quayle merely tells you to talk to Raelis Shae in the theatre beneath the Five Flagons. Aerie will naturally complain if you don't go visit Quayle, however. Walkthrough: ------------ - GATHER INFORMATION & ALLIES Talking with some of the people nearby will net you some information on where Imoen might have been taken by the Cowled Wizards. What you need to do now is increase your strength in three ways: Experience for more levels. Companions Items Generally speaking most of Chapter 2 is just running around doing Quests trying to get Gold and Experience. This area only really has one good Quest (The Circus Tent & Aerie below), but it also has the best shop in the game, the Adventurer's Mart. When you're ready, leave this area and go to the slums. Quests: ------- QUEST: The Circus Tent & Aerie (AR 0600, 0604, 0605, 0606) Giran (AR 0700, x 2790 y 1550) Circus (AR 0700, x 2975 y 1525) Just a little southwest of where you appear in this area is a big circus tent. If you talk to Harrold and Fearghus around here you can discover that something is wrong with the circus. Talk to Giran just to the left of the entrance and he'll complain about his mother being inside the tent and not coming out. Go to the entrance and convince the guard to let you in. Go inside. You will be met by a Genie who wants you to answer a riddle to cross the bridge. The answer is (3) The prince is 30 and the princess is 40. Answering correctly gets you 19,500 experience. If you fail that riddle he asks another, to which the answer is (6) Nothing. Answering the second riddle gets you only 14,500 exp. Failing that riddle he will attack you. (5000 exp) Enter the giant dome. Once inside an Ogre named Aerie will tell you to flee this place. Pump her for information if you want. Then go left to the spider, then north until you find the two peasants. They will attack you. Kill them (they are Orcs, actually). One of them has a Friends spell, the other has a Sword. Take this sword over to Aerie to restore her humanity. For this you get 18,500 exp, and she'll offer to join you. Go north and talk to the Pleasure Slave. She offers no useful information. Go up the stairs (x 1067 y 390). On this level there are werewolves and shadows. Kill the shadows if you want, but ignore the werewolves, they are illusions and will not give you any Experience. The werewolves can't hurt you unless you attack them. Search the two vases on the sides of the staircase to find: Spells - Web (Mage) Protection from Petrification (Mage) Dispel Magic (Mage) Go near the stairs (x 920 y 260), where a genie talks to you again. He offers to let you rest on this level. When you're ready go up the stairs to the final level. Ignore the other enemies here, some are illusions, and concentrate your attack on Kalah himself. Once he is dead the illusion dies with him and you'll be back in a regular circus tent. (2000 exp) Listen to his little rant and you get 25,000 exp. If you didn't restore Aerie earlier then Quayle asks to let Aerie travel with you permanently, which is totally up to you. Search Kalah's body: Spells - Stoneskin (Mage) Identify (Mage) Infravision (Mage) Magic Missile (Mage) Stinking Cloud (Mage) Girdle of Piercing (+3 AC vs. piercing) Ring of Human Influence (Sets CHA to 18) Garnet Gem 724 Gold Minor Treasures (bullets, sling, flail) Talk to the woman, Hannah (x 100 y 300) at the left of the tent. This is Giran's mother. She'll rush out of the tent. You get 500 experience from her. Go outside and talk to Giran again to get 2500 more experience. Talk to the Amnish soldier to get a Reputation Increase (+1). MISC: If you talk to Harrold again, he and his wife are both thankful (although at night she seems to disappear). Also if you talk to Fearghus again he will leave and theoretically go back to the circus. QUEST: Cernd's Child Cernd's Former Home - Promenade (AR 0700, x 1900 y 1830) Fennecia's House - Promenade (AR 0700, x 1800 y 900) Deril's Estate - Government (AR 1000, x 3500 y 2650) Note: You pick up Cernd in Trademeet, and you get to Trademeet by talking to the man in the City Gates area. Enter any of the major city districts with Cernd in the party and a man will come up and talk to Cernd. It is a former neighbor and he has lost all respect for Cernd. It seems that when Cernd left his former wife, she was with child and Cernd never knew this. This is quite upsetting to him and he wants to go visit with his former wife, Galia. If you aren't in Waukeen's Promenade, get there. You will find Cernd's house just left of the Adventurer's Mart. Enter. You find a squatter living in Cernd's house. He will (eventually) tell you that Galia has moved in with some "bastard" but he offers no more details than that. Go up to Fennecia's House, which is higher up on the wall. Enter. Talking with Fennecia she tells Cernd that Galia is dead. Send Cernd out of the house and talk to her again. She fills you in on the rest of the story. Shortly after Cernd left, Galia moved in with a noble named Deril. He treated her badly. Eventually she died in mysterious circumstances, and Cernd's son is likely to be raised to be evil like Deril. Go to the government district and find Deril's Estates. Enter. Cernd convinces Deril's Golem to get Deril (although he kills the golem for the interruption). You then have to choose how to react to things: Threaten him with the guards, threaten him with an attack, do nothing, or just attack him. If you simply threaten him he will hand over the child (although they will reappear in 3 days) Or you could attack him. He is a mage and brings in a Lich to help him. Deril - 26,000 experience Lagole Gon - 26,000 experience Cernd's Baby Take the child and Cernd seems happier. Cernd gains 50,000 experience and the party gains 20,000 exp. Cernd then takes off with the boy to the Druid Grove. If you want Cernd back all you need to is head out to the Grove and pick him up again. OTHER: The Horns of Valhalla (modified from Max Chen) Silver Horn of Valhalla - Bridge (AR 0500, x 2985 y 750) Madeer, Shopkeep - Promenade (AR 0700, x 1875 y 2066) In the game you will find the Silver Horn of Valhalla, which summons a level 5 Berserker Warrior for a short duration. (The horn is found in the Bridge District, in the house by the fish seller) This is great and all, but there is a way to upgrade this horn to two better ones. What you need is the Horn, a Diamond and a Beljuril. (you can obtain a Beljuril from Umar Hills, see the Chicken's Gem quest) Talk to Maheer (he isn't labeled as such) just southwest of the Adventurers Mart with a diamond and the horn in your possession. Ask him about what types of things he sells, and whether he does anything "special." He'll mention that he does indeed make a fair horn. If you have the diamond and silver horn on you he offers to make you the Bronze Horn for 2000 gp. The Bronze Horn can summon a level 7 Berserker Warrior. If you have the Bronze Horn and a Beljuril he will upgrade the Horn again for 5000 gold. This creates the Iron Horn which summons a 9th level Berserker Warrior who will fight for you for one minute. OTHER: Night Guild War This won't necessarily happen here, but during the night you can see the Shadow Thieves and Vampires battle it out for supremacy. You can take sides in these battles if you want, just force-fight whichever side you don't like. Bear in mind that Vampires take magic weapons to hit, and at this point you only have the Two Handed Sword +2 (Chaos Sword). Also, if you join the fight AGAINST the vampires, then you won't be able to find Bodhi in the graveyard later. OTHER: Ribald's Ring of Regeneration If you successfully pickpocket the owner of the Adventurer's Mart, Ribald, you will get the spiffy Ring of Regeneration (1 HP every 6 seconds). [from Steotia] OTHER: Sleep in the Street Who needs an Inn? Not us, that's for sure. Simply set the option to "Rest until Healed", then when you are in the street hit the REST button. Instant Inn. Free too. This doesn't always work, but usually does near the circus. OTHER: The Town Crier Whenever you find a Town Crier you can listen to their little stories, or you can insult them. Nothing else comes of this, no new quests. OTHER: Promenade Containers Although there are many searchable containers in this area, not a single one of them has ANYTHING in them. So don't bother looking. OTHER: Belmin Gergas, the Elf Hater Belmin - Promenade (AR 0700, x 1115 y 950) If you talk to Belmin with an Elf in your party he spouts off some stupid prejudice. That's pretty well it UNLESS you have Viconia in your party, in which case he attacks you. If you kill him you lose reputation, and not only that, everyone around will attack you as well! Trick: Let Viconia talk to him. Make sure that the party AI is turned off before that. He turns hostile, and the nearby guard attacks him. At this point you can either try to get the guard to hold him back while you run out of sight, or move everyone out of sight and have Viconia cast sanctuary on herself. The guard should kill him now. Kudos - you've just rid the world of a racist bastard and lost no reputation for it. (Xander77) OTHER: Mencar Pebblecrusher Seven Veils (AR 0700, x 3325 y 430) Mencar (Second Floor of the Seven Veils, AR 0712, x 300 y 240) On the second floor of the Seven Veils is a band of mercenaries led by none other than the infamous Mencar Pebblecrusher. When you first meet with him, he insults you. If you respond in kind you will get into a fight. Don't do that, instead calm him down. Note: If you talk to Mencar with Korgan, he'll immediately attack you. Now get ready for a fight. Cast every protection spell you can (Haste is especially helpful!). Then position your people strategically around the room. The idea is to assassinate several of his goons before they even start attacking you. Take out the mage first if you can, then the imp. I also used Hold Person to keep Mencar from doing anything. Brennan Risling will attempt to flee if he gets hurt. If you trap the room, remember the traps will all trigger at once, usually all hitting whomever turns red (hostile) first. Thus, if you want the traps to all hit Mencar, you should shoot him with a bow. I also once used a thief/mage to drop Cloudkills in the room, then duck around the corner and Hide in the Shadows. Mencar - 10,000 experience Full Plate Mail Potion of Fire Giant Strength 89 Gold Hammer +1 2 Potions of Extra Healing Smaeluv Orcslicer - 4000 experience Hide Armor Flamedance Ring 42 Gold Cursed Berserking Sword +3 Sorcerous Amon - 6000 experience Potion of Extra Healing Wand of Lightning Cloak of Non-detection Minor Treasures Pooky (Imp) - 4000 experience Brennan Risling - 4000 experience (flees if damaged) Studded Leather +1 Ring of Invisibility Short Sword +1 Oil of Speed Potion of Invisibility 2 Potions of Extra Healing Minor Treasures Note: The Cloak of Non-detection is supposed to protect your invisible characters from being revealed. This doesn't work that way, but it does protect your hidden thieves from being found out. Invisibility granted from items is also protected by the cloak. (with thanks to Andrew Scarvell) There are three chests to be searched, one of which is TRAPPED. These net you some minor treasures. OTHER: The Fence Jayes - Promenade (AR 0700, x 4880 y 1850) Steal something and need to sell it? At night, go to the far right side of the promenade to find Jayes, the thief. He'll buy your stolen goods. And, if you are in a really thievery mood, you can steal directly from him, and then sell him his own goods back to him. I drank a Potion of Master Thievery to get my pickpocket skill up to 175 (I also had the Gloves of Pickpocketing from the upper floor of the Copper Coronet), then just stole the Chain Mail +2, and sold it, stole and sold, stole and sold, and so forth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1 [THSLMS] The Slums (AR 0400) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- When you first enter the Slums a thief by the name of Gaelan Bayle approaches you. Hear him out and follow him to his home. He represents an organization that may help you out, for a price. 20,000 gold. That's a tidy sum of money. He offers some advice as to how to make some money, and depending on your class will direct you to your appropriate stronghold (i.e. a Bard to the Five Flagons). This also begins chapter 2, and you can watch as Imoen and Irenicus are sent to Spellhold by the Cowled Wizards. Companions: ----------- Anomen 18/52 10 16 10 12 13 Human Fighter/Cleric Lawful Neutral Anomen may not be a Paladin but he is deeply involved with the Order of the Radiant Heart. He believes in Law over all other concerns, making him neither good nor evil. Found at: Copper Coronet (Slums) Grade: C+ At the point in the game when you run across this guy is just won't fit into your party. As you can see by his wisdom score he doesn't make for a good Cleric, and with his DEX score, he doesn't make that great a Fighter either. Upgraded: B (see Anomen's Quests below) Korgan 18/77 15 19 12 9 7 Dwarf Battlerager Chaotic Evil Although his alignment is listed as Chaotic Evil, Korgan is more Neutral Evil than anything (mercenary type that he is). Korgan is always on the lookout to make a buck, no matter the cost (of lives). Found at: Copper Coronet (Slums) If kicked out: Will be at the Copper Coronet, but requires a Bribe to rejoin you. Grade: A- The best fighter-type in the game. Good Strength, good Constitution and adequate Dexterity. And unlike Minsc (the other "strong" character), Korgan can be a Grand Master in a weapon making him very lethal indeed. Would be an "A" except that he is Evil, which makes it hard to keep him in a Good aligned party. Nalia 14 18 16 17 9 13 Human Thief/Mage Chaotic Good Raised as a Noble, Nalia fancies herself as a "compassionate" noble, out there working for the good of the common man. She is incredibly naive about the world to the point of almost being stupid. (not quite, though) Event: A week after clearing the De'Arnise hold, if you are in a city, a messenger will arrive telling her to go to the Graveyard. (more information can be found on this in section 2.3 De'Arnise Hold) If she leaves: If you accept her quest, but don't do it right away, she will leave on her own. You will then find her near the De'Arnise Hold in a wooden palisade (SW of the Hold). Grade: C+ Nalia has very puny thief skills (she dualled over to Mage at level 4), making her primarily a Mage with SOME thief skills thrown in for good measure. However, as a Mage she doesn't have 18 INT (which helps) and doesn't gain Edwin's spell bonuses. Walkthrough: ------------ - RAISE MONEY FOR GAELAN Now we have a purpose to our lives, gather enough money to get Gaelan's friends to help us. The set amount is 20,000 gold. Getting this gold is a matter of following the various Quests throughout the city, which also conveniently get you Experience and Items at the same time. Once you reach 15,000 gold you will be immediately confronted by two different people, a woman and a boy. This represents a slight split in the game as you must choose which side to play. The major walkthrough ends here for the moment, and picks up again in section 3. The Guild War (Chapter Three). From here until there is almost exclusively devoted to Quests. Go outside and talk to Brus and he'll direct you to your Stronghold Quest. Fighters -- > Nalia in the Copper Coronet Priests -- > New Cult in the Temple District Mages -- > Cowled Wizard with a Quest in the Government District Rangers -- > Boy complaining of monsters at the Government District Paladins -- > Lord Jierdan in the Copper Coronet Thieves -- > Shadow Thieves at the Docks Bards -- > Playhouse beneath the Five Flagons at the Bridge Druids -- > Man at the City Gates has a problem at Trademeet Finally, throughout this chapter there are three dream sequences that occur randomly when you sleep. Quests: ------- OTHER: Fight some Brigands near Copper Coronet Brigands - Slums (AR 0400, x 3100 y 2130) Just to the right of the entrance to the Copper Coronet are a duo of not so bright brigands, Cohrvale and Bregg. They attack you before realizing you are fully armed and dangerous. Take them out. They are worth 6000 and 4000 exp each. QUEST: The Mystery of the Copper Coronet Entrance to Coronet - Slums (AR 0400, x 2470 y 2250) Lehtinan - Coronet (AR 0406, x 410 y 1215) Hendak - Coronet (AR 0406, x 2685 y 500) Beastmaster - Coronet (AR 0406, x 3550 y 2000) Enter the Copper Coronet, and talk to the owner and proprietor of the place, Lehtinan. (If you need to rest, talk to his associate, Bernard) Ask him about ways to "spend a coin", and about his other types of entertainment. This will allow you to visit the back rooms. Open the door near Anomen at (x 1400 y 1480). A guard in here will welcome you to the "exclusive" entertainments offered here. Turn right and open that door. A man here talks to you about the Pit. He tells you all about the slavery, fighting, and so forth that goes on here. Go further down the passage to see a fight. Note: It may be weird, but if you just go up and kill Lehtinan, not only are there no negative consequences, but Bernard starts acting like Hendak took over, and begins selling the new stock of items! Go back to the guard, and go up the north (x 1600 y 1370) passage. Be prepared for a fight. There will be two secret doors on the left. One leads to a pillowed room, the other to a set of stairs to the sewers. Ignore it for now and continue to the end of the passage. There's no way to avoid conflict with the 5 guards here (2 mages), so kill them quickly. Go near the center cell to talk to Hendak, the gladiator. Agree to free him and he'll tell you that the Beastmaster has the key. Go to the southeast end of this room, and open the southern door (x 2720 y 875). This leads you past the gladiator pits (complete with a violent winter wolf to kill) to the area where the monsters are kept. There you will find the Beastmaster with his pet tiger, Tabitha. He opens up all the monster pens to let them at you. Kill the Beastmaster: (2000 exp) Beastmaster Key Spells - Stone to Flesh (Mage) Plate Mail Tuigan Bow +1 (3 Shots per round) Kill the other monsters if you wish. Return to the cells, open the non-Hendak cells first for some (5000) experience. Then go to Hendak's cell with the key and free him, this gets you 7500 exp. Hendak is rightly pissed off about his recent situation and runs off to kill Lehtinan. Follow and help out (clearing out the guards and whatnot). Don't worry, Hendak won't kill Lehtinan until you get there. (on an interesting side note, Nalia will join the fight against the guards even if she isn't in your party) When Lehtinan is dead you get 48,750 experience. Tim Lou has an alternate way to free Hendak: After you talked with Hendak, you can head back to Lehtinan and tell him that Hendak is a slave in prison. Lehtinan will give you the key of the cell and asks you to kill Hendak for him. You can agree for the time being. Then you go back to free Hendak and you decide let him go (Tell him that you get the key from Lehtinan and pretend to kill him) or kill him for Lehtinan. By this way, you don't need to deal with the beastmaster and get the cell key (Although the beastmaster is not a tough guy). Editor's Note: If you wanted to do both methods, you could kill the Beastmaster first, then skip Hendak and talk to Lehtinan. You can get a reward of a Plate Mail from Lehtinan when you tell him about the escape attempt. Then he'll give you a key to deal with Hendak. Evil Note: If you do what Lehtinan suggests and kill Hendak, then you get 420 experience for killing Hendak and a reward of Bastard Sword +1, +3 vs. Shapeshifters from Lehtinan. (Oh and your Reputation drops 1 point) By the way, you would get that item later anyway when you freed the slaves. Hendak asks you to help free more slaves (see "Free the Slaves" below), agree to do so. Search Lehtinan's body: Spells - Summon Nishruu (Mage) Death Fog (Mage) Gems 1287 Gold Also, Bernard now gives you a discount on his items. QUEST: Free the Slaves Entrance to Sewers - Coronet (AR 0406, x 2070 y 660) Entrance to the Slavers - Sewers (AR 0404, x 2900 y 2500) Exit to the Slums - Slave Galley (AR 0405, x 750 y 1900) Remember that set of stairs we skipped by earlier? Go down them. While you are down here, you might want to do the Sentient Sword Quest (described below). Go through the sewers until you reach the exit (x 2900 y 2500). This is the back entrance to the Slavers Compound (the beached ship in the Slums). You appear in the middle of a good deal of enemies. Don't wander too much around this area during your fight, as there are TRAPS that can kill you. Also new guards can come in from other areas. Once this fight is over, search the Captain's remains for: Haegan's Key Studded Leather Armor +2 Potions Minor Treasures There is also a box of gems here (x 1815 y 1330). Open the door to the northeast (x 2136 y 1205), kill the two trolls in here and talk to the slave girl. If you give her 100 gold you get 3500 exp and a Reputation +1. Go back. Now go up the little steps to the northwest (x 1720 y 1066) and into the hallway. On each side of the passage are cells with slaves in them. Free them for 2500 exp. Go into the room to the northwest (being ever mindful to check for TRAPS, of course). There are 3 containers with minor treasures here. The next room to the north has several Yuan-ti in it, as well as some minor treasures (Arrows, Gold, Spells, etc.). The next room to the south has the Slaver Mage in it, and provides a bit tougher battle. The slaver wizard has a Cloak of Protection +1 on him. The rest have mostly minor treasures. There are two containers in the north of this room with some good treasures (Spells, Rings and such). Careful, the chest is trapped. Then just go southwest (careful of traps), then southeast. Ignore the side room. There will be three shelves here, the trapped one in the middle has a sling. Also there is a barrel left of that. (It has a spell and some gold) Just past that is the exit to the Slums. (x 750 y 1900) Return to Hendak to get your reward: 38,000 quest experience per character, Plate Mail, Bastard Sword +1 +3 vs. Shapeshifters, Reputation +1 and 3900 gold. QUEST: The Sentient Sword (Lilarcor) Hand - (AR 0404, x 515 y 950) Ring - (AR 0404, x 1640 y 850) Staff - (AR 0404, x 2360 y 1300) Blood - (AR 0404, x 2330 y 2722) Quallo - (AR 0404, x 2240 y 2760) Sword - (AR 0404, x 2790 y 1790) From the Coronet entrance, head south. Clear out the Hobgoblins here, then go west (x 900 y 650). There will be an Otyugh here, kill it. (5000 exp) In the center of this little room is a grate, (x 515 y 950) click the grate twice to get the first object, the Hand. Back into the main passage, and head southeast. This leads to a small room. On the north wall are two skeletons pressed together. Click them twice to get the Ring. (The stairs to the NE lead to a Myconid area, but there is no real reason to go that way) 0418 Go down the southwest passage, and follow it to the little bit of water. The little bridge is trapped. Go north up the water until you reach the kobolds (x 2360 y 1600). Kill them to get the Staff. That leaves just one object left. ShirouKyoji has a different way to get the staff: Talk to the Kobold Shaman after reading the clues, and choose option number 3. Then, choose option number 1. Then, choose option number 4. I *KNOW* It says to offer 2000 gold pieces, just do it. Then, choose option number 1. The other Kobolds will get mad and kill him. Then, you can loot the 2000 gold. Tada! Plus, you get to hear some funny Dialogue. Go back south, cross the bridge and go southeast (x 1835 y 2000). At the fork, take the southern path until you find the odd little man, Quallo (x 2240 y 2760). Talk to him to try to learn everything you can. Then kill the Carrion Crawler there to get its blood, the final object. We now have everything we need. Go up the northern passage (x 2275 y 2790), through the enemies until you reach the Pipe room (x 2666 y 1915). The Glowing Pool has a few things to say, but if you're reading this then you don't need to care. There are four pipes in this room, corresponding to each of the items. We will number the pipes from top to bottom, with the top pipe being pipe number 1. Double click each pipe in this order: Pipe 3 (Hand) Pipe 1 (Ring) Pipe 2 (Blood) Pipe 4 (Staff) Do that and the Sentient Sword will appear and everyone gets 18,000 quest experience points. Lilarcor (its name) is a Two Handed Sword +3, with immunities to Charm and Confusion. If you talk to Quallo after this, it turns out that he was charmed himself, and he will leave. QUEST: Nalia's Quest (Fighter/Barbarian Stronghold) Nalia - Coronet (AR 0406, x 900 y 1500) Nalia is one of two people who walk right up to you and ask for help (the other being Anomen, who doesn't really want help). Anyway she wants your assistance in helping clear out her ancestral castle of monsters. Agree to help her. Let her join if you wish it. (It's usually better to have the person whose quest you are working on with you) You will then have to leave the city. So, first go to the City Gates and from there exit to De'Arnise Hold. This Quest is continued in section 2.3 De'Arnise Hold. QUEST: Korgan's Quest Korgan - Coronet (AR 0406, x 1850 y 960) Crypt - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 640 y 1830) Pimlico Estate - Temple District (AR 0900, x 4315 y 1015) Talk with the dwarf near Surly and listen to his tale. He wants to break into a crypt and steal a book found within. This book will then be sold to a book dealer for a great profit. Agree to his proposal and let him join you. To the graveyard! There are many entrances to this crypt, but the one listed above works best, I think. Open it and descend into darkness. One of the pots to your right has a Mislead spell. Enter the passage (being doubly sure to check for traps, of course). There is a trapped chest in the passage here, and another one just before the passage ends. These chests have spells and other minor treasures. The second one also has some Wooden Stakes. Makes you wonder what is done here. You don't need the stakes right now, but feel free to take them. Going right you'll have to contend with some spiders. Take them out and go right. There's another group of spiders here along with some Ettercaps. North of here is the Spider Queen (no, not Lolth, see Quests in the Graveyard section), and to the south is the crypt we want. (x 2750 y 3250) This is a large Egyptian looking chamber, with a figure of a woman on the floor (who is trapped). Also, when you step on a certain spot, all the doors fling open and release many nasty undead. These guys will drain your levels, stats, or disease you. There are four traps on the figure, 2 on the eyes, one on the necklace and another on the hand. Search for the secret door in the bottom corner (x 900 y 800). There are more traps within this passage, as well as more undead, mummies and the like. This passage then forks, with a passage going right and another continuing south. At the fork, there is a pot with some treasure (x 533 y 1290). Go right (checking for traps, of course) and click on the coffin at (x 815 y 1325). This releases its occupant who doesn't like you. Kill it. It has a spiffy spear on it. Further right are a group of mummies and ghasts and past them is a small room with treasure. Nothing great, but it's better than nothing. Back at the fork, this time go south. Be careful to search for traps, there are three between you and the next room. Within this room are mummies and a big already looted coffin. Korgan notes that the tomb is looted (11,250 exp). Kill the mummy there and Korgan comes up with a plan of action to get the people who looted this tomb ahead of you. He wants to hurry to the Temple District to the home of the Book Dealer (whose book was in the tomb). There are two pots in here with very minor treasures. Leave the crypt and go over to the Temple District. Go to the Pimlico Family Estate (just past the Temple of Lathander). As you approach, Korgan tells you that the place has been looted (you took too long, even if you came right here that was too long!). Go inside anyway. Despite what Korgan said there are a few gold pieces laying about. Take Korgan into the bedroom and he'll mention that this looks like the work of Shagbag, who can probably be found on the roof of the Copper Coronet. (8750 exp) To the Slums! The stairs that lead to the roof are at (x 1530 y 2815). Go up the stairs until you find Shagbag and his party. (5000 exp) Korgan has some words with them and a fight breaks out. Search Shagbag's corpse to find the Book of Kaza. The only thing that remains is to sell it (to any retailer). QUEST: Anomen's Murdered Sister House Delryn - Government District (AR 1000, x 4300 y 2175) About a week after you gain Anomen in your party, a messenger approaches him and tells him to return home as his sister has been murdered. This quest may influence whether Anomen can become a Knight later, which increases his abilities. Go to the Government District, Anomen's home. The Delryn Family Estate is the large orange building south of the Council building (by quite a bit). At the door the guard tells you of how tense things are between Anomen and his father. Enter. You will find Cor Delryn, Anomen's father, in the kitchen. He accuses Anomen of letting Moira -- his sister -- get killed. He then says that the only way for Anomen to make this up to them is to avenge her by killing those responsible. You must advise Anomen on what to do: 1) Kill Saerk out of vengeance, 2) seek a legal resolution to things, or 3) Kill Saerk for the money. Convince Anomen not to kill Saerk, and then tell him that perhaps his father's quest for revenge has tainted his judgment (10,500 exp). Go to the Government Building and talk to Bylanna there. She says that there is insufficient evidence on Saerk to convict him of much of anything. Again Anomen looks to you for advice. Convince him to let bygones be bygones for (7500 exp). From the time you talked to Cor, you have 10 days before Anomen's next quest begins. QUEST: Anomen and the Knights of the Radiant Heart Radiant Heart - Temple District (AR 0900, x 3300 y 3400) Note: This quest can be delayed if you are in a romance with Anomen. 10 days after the completion of Anomen's first quest (dealing with his sister's death), if you are in the city, Sir Ryan Trawl will approach Anomen. He tells him that it is now time for Anomen to take the tests of knighthood. Go inside the Order of the Radiant Heart and the Judging will begin. Whether Anomen is accepted as a Knight depends on how you solved his Sister's Quest. If you sought out the non-violent solution, then Anomen is a Knight, otherwise he is not. Anomen's Wisdom is increased to 16 and his name changed to Sir Anomen. The party gains 10,000 experience and Anomen gains another 50,000 experience on top of that. With the increased Wisdom he also gains +2 1st and 2nd level Priest spells. Have Anomen speak with Sir Ryan Trawl. (nothing much is said) QUEST: Jierdan's Quest (Paladin Stronghold) Lord Jierdan - Copper Coronet (AR 0406, x 725 y 1400) Within the Copper Coronet, you will find a man in fiery red who offers you an outrageous sum of money to do a minor monster fighting quest. He wants some ogres cleared out from his holds near the Windspear Hills. He marks it on your map. Leave the city and head out to the Windspear Hills. (on a side note, the voice of Jierdan is provided by the same person who did Minsc) This quest is continued in the Windspear Hills section below. OTHER: Amalas' Duel in the Coronet Entrance to Coronet - Slums (AR 0400, x 2470 y 2250) Amalas (70 hp) - Coronet (AR 0406, x 1090 y 1870) In the southern end of the Coronet is a group of three idiots led by Amalas. (near Korgan) Talk to Amalas and insult his honor. Beat him one-on-one to get 1800 and 9500 exp. Then you can tell his lackeys to take a hike. Only the main character can duel with Amalas, so if your main character is a Sorcerer (or whatever) you will have a more difficult time with it. If you free Hendak and the slaves before dueling, Amalas will vanish. OTHER: Mazzy and Gorf [from Vladislav Brkic, and a number of others] Copper Coronet - Slums (AR0406, x 200 y 1400) I was selling some goods to Bernard in the Copper Coronet, after which I left through second door. Outside an Ogre pit fighter called Gorf the Squisher started talking to Mazzy and said how halflings don't know how to hit. Then he started hitting some commoner and talked to Mazzy again and challenged her to a duel in the Copper Coronet pit. When I entered the Copper Coronet Mazzy talked to pit manager Surly and he sent us to talk to Gorf's girlfriend Bunkin. After that I then talked to Festule the Alchemist (same area x 915 y 1240) and bought a potion to disable Gorf for 400gp. He also said to try giving it to Bunkin. Then I talked to Bunkin (x 1200 y 1820), complimented her and she complained that Gorf never does that, so I gave her Festule's "love" potion and said that it will solve her problem (for this the party gained 11,500 exp). Then Gorf arrived and said that his ale tasted funny but still entered the pit. Mazzy killed him easily (2500 xp). Then she said something like "Virtue has won again" and party received another 5000 exp. OTHER: Dog Fighting Surly - Coronet (AR 0406, x 980 y 1800) Talk to Surly and for 10 gp you can set up a Dogfight. You get 20 gp if you win, although Good party members seem to be upset by this. You can kill Surly with no penalty (250 experience). OTHER: Gloves of Pickpocketing [from Snark] Gloves - Coronet (AR 0406, x 750 y 610) In one of the rooms at the top of the stairs, the room with the retired pickpocket, you will find a trapped table with the Gloves of Pickpocketing. OTHER: People around the Sphere Waylane near the Sphere tries to sell you the sphere. (it's even more amusing when he tries to sell it to Yoshimo or Viconia) Another fella wants to worship the sphere, a woman lost her home to the sphere and a landowner thinks he owns the sphere. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2 [BTWNRS] Between Areas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While traveling between areas in the city (or between city and country) there are two major events that happen. The first is that you are attacked by slavers who have some interesting objects on them: Spells - Minor Globe of Invulnerability (Mage) Vampiric Touch (Mage) Domination (Mage) Shocking Grasp (Mage) Magic Missile (Mage) Flame Arrow (Mage) Plate Mail +1 Arbane's Sword +2 (short sword) Potions Gold The second is more serious. You encounter a group of thugs killing a guy. Kill the thugs and talk to the guy. Agree to help him. Now you have to take him to the Docks. (This is covered more in the Docks section) These aren't the only between area conflicts, but they are the only noteworthy ones. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3 [DRNSHL] De'Arnise Hold (AR 1300) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - LIBERATE DE'ARNISE HOLD If you're here, then there's only one thing to do, and that is to attempt to clear out the De'Arnise Hold. This can be done whether you are a Fighter/Barbarian or not, although only they gain possession of it later as their Stronghold. In order to even be here, you must have talked to Nalia. If you didn't join up with her, or if she left, you can find her in the Palisade (x 770 y 3225). Nalia tells you that you are fighting Trolls and Yuan-ti (although she doesn't know those by name). Which means that you will want Flame/Acid based weaponry. Talk to Captain Arat, and as you are about to say goodbye to him he gives you some Flame Arrows (see Quests below for a way to get infinite Arrows off of him). Once you are done there, it is time to enter the De'Arnise Hold. Leave the palisade, and go northeast a little until you find the Secret Entrance (x 1300 y 2750). It is a secret door, so having a Thief do Find Traps could help you find it. Open it and go inside. - THE SECRET PASSAGE (AR 1302) There's nothing in this first room. Nalia simply reminds you of your goals in here, find Daleson and open the Drawbridge. Unlock then open the only door. This room has 2 containers with treasure (neither are trapped nor locked): Spells - Agannazar's Scorcher (Mage, to kill trolls of course) Potions Bullets Light Crossbow of Speed Heavy Crossbow Arrows +2 Bolts +2 Open the next door. This leads to another secret door (x 600 y 1400), which is actually inside of the De'Arnise Hold (we were in the secret passage before that). Open the secret door. - DALESON A Troll is in this room and he kills the servant here. You don't really have a shot at saving him. Kill the troll (being sure to hit it with Fire or Acid when it falls down). Search the table (x 850 y 1265): Spells - Protection from Normal Weapons (Mage) Bullets +2 There is a secret door on the northwest wall (x 700 y 1230), open it to find Daleson. This guy provides all sorts of information about what you are facing, who you must save, the relic of the Keep (the Flail of the Ages) and where you need to end out (in the "cellar"). If Nalia is with you then she does most of the talking. - THE SECRET FORGE & THE FLAIL OF THE AGES Go into the room that Daleson was in. There are 2 containers in here with mostly minor weaponry, although you will want to take the magic arrows here (and possibly the magic long bow). There is another secret door in the northwest wall (x 410 y 933). At the end of this passage is another secret door which leads to the Secret Forge of the Flail of Ages. There are three pieces to the Flail of Ages. Whenever you get one, bring it to this forge to add it to the whole. It can exist just fine with one, two or all three parts. There is a chest here with some minor treasures. (x 560 y 400) Search the northeast wall for another secret door (x 630 y 380). Just past that is another secret door. Search the lion statue (x 950 y 175) to find: Flail Head (Cold, 1 of 3) Ring of Earth Control (AC +1, Summon Earth Elemental, Control E.E.) 810 gold - LOOTING THE MAIN FLOOR Go back to Daleson's Room and open the (normal) door. Directly in front of your party is the main Eating Hall, but it isn't important. Drop south and east. There is a chest here (x 1430 y 1370): (TRAPPED) Dagger +2 450 gold The room at (x 1325 y 520) has some very minor treasures in it. The only worthwhile treasure is found on the bed near the bathroom, which has a couple of spells (Protection from Normal Weapons and Breach). However, if you go from there and open up the door to the bathroom, you can find a Star Sapphire in the toilet (x 1765 y 500). The next room southwards (x 1835 y 885) has some minor treasures to be found on a fish (x 1790 y 675) and it has a stove. If only you had something to cook. Hmmm... seems that Daleson mentioned feeding some great beasts. Now, what did he feed them... - MAKING DOGMEAT STEW Yeah, that's right. Go out the door (x 1950 y 1140) to the exterior of the Keep. Kill the Otyugh (5000 exp). Then track down and kill the four family dogs and take their "dog meat". Pleasant. Go back inside and operate the stove to create a thick, meaty stew. (The main character must have all 4 meats on him in order to make the stew) For this you get 11,500 experience. - OPENING THE DRAWBRIDGE Go back outside. Then find the stairs (x 2175 y 1640) and go up that until you are on the Keep's walls. Ignore the door for the moment. There will be an ice troll on the wall. Kill it and keep going. You will find the switch to open the Drawbridge at (x 2833 y 1840). Click it once to open. For this you get 29,750 experience. Go back to the main level (keep on ignoring that side door). There you will see Humans battling it out with Giant Trolls and Greater Yuan-ti. Join the battle if you like (good experience). Then go back into the main door to the keep. The battle continues inside, but once these trolls are beaten, the guards leave. - LOOTING THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE KEEP (AR 1303) Open the door at (x 2000 y 1050) to get to the stairs. Another servant gets whacked in here. Go up the stairs. Nalia provides some more information on what needs to be done here. She recommends finding her auntie's bedroom and finding the secret passage that leads to the cellar. (Why would the cellar be connected only to the second floor anyway?) In this room are 2 containers with treasure, although the only good thing is the Spell Turning spell. Open the southeastern door (x 2100 y 1000) and enter that passage. The side room here has some minor treasure. Open the southwest door (x 2075 y 1425) to enter the Library. In here you will find one mini-troll, a big troll that becomes two smaller ones when killed, and a Yuan-ti mage. Take out the mage first. The stairs here lead up to the roof (which is where that door we ignored goes as well, there's nothing up there worth looking at). Search the 3 bookcases here: Keep Key Spells - Conjure Lesser Earth Elemental (Mage) Minor Spell Turning (Mage) Bolts +1 Since the western door cannot be opened, that leaves only the southern door (x 1730 y 1650). The first room along this passage has 1 container with minor treasures (Detect Illusions, 20 Arrows, etc.). Go along down to the second door to find the Lady of the Keep. She isn't too impressed with you. Eventually she'll go away. Remember this room, as we'll be coming back here in a moment (we have more looting to do first). Continue to the end of the passage and open the door (x 375 y 1035). Continue through this room into the next passage. Kill the Ice Troll. This passage eventually goes all the way back to the library. Ignore the northern door for the moment, and open the southern door (x 1550 y 630). Search the Fireplace: (TRAPPED) Wand of Frost There is a Secret Door on the southeast wall (x 1480 y 830). Follow this passage all the way to what looks like a dead end. It isn't. Open this secret door and enter a small room. There are 2 chests in here with mostly minor treasures (although the spell Spell Thrust is nice). Detrap the next door and go in. Within this room is a former guardsman by the name of Glaicas. There is a non-violent way to end this, (see below) but only if you have Nalia in your party. Glaicas - 9500 exp Flail Head (Acid, 2 of 3) Full Plate Mail Potions Gold Non-violent Solution: [from Sergio Le Roux] In the de'Arnise Hold, in the secret room where Glaicas is located, you have to charm him to "normalcy". But there's a bug with the game: a couple of seconds after you charm him, he turns blue for about 1 second, then turns green again. So, basically, your own charm spell is interfering with the script that would lead to him talking to you. If you want to save him (and earn 22,550 xp), you have to time it right so that when you charm him (he turns green) one of your attacks will hit him (this must happen BEFORE he turns blue). He will turn red again... pause the game and make sure you stop all your characters! He will continue being hostile, but then the script will kick in. He'll talk to you and give you the last part of the flail. [from Hatchedcross]: I found it is much simpler to just charm him and then rest as soon as possible. That way you can talk to him normally and save much frustration from timing it correctly. I've also noted that it doesn't matter wheter Nalia is in your party at the time you talk to him. There is absolutely nothing in the next room, so go back out. - THE GOLEMS Go back to the Lady's room and search for traps until the secret door (x 833 y 1033) shows up. This leads to a very small room with nothing in it. There are two secret doors from this place, one to the west and one to the north. Open the west one and go in. This is what I like to call the "Golem Chapel." Depending on what level you are on you face different Golems. If you are a high level then you are facing the tough Adamantite Golem. I, however, faced an Iron Golem. At the end of this chamber are three Statues that can be searched for some pretty good magical items. However, when you take those items, you WILL be attacked by some of the golems. So, naturally, the best strategy is to kill the golems BEFORE taking the treasure. If you don't have any +2 or better weaponry, you might want to go take the treasure first so that you have weapons that can harm them. One odd way to kill the golems in this room is to drop Cloudkills on them and shut the door. Wait. Repeat as needed. Remember, if you're frustrated you could always use my patented "fake talk" strategy. Move your fighters into position (only the ones with +2 weaponry, or weapons that have extra damage). Adamantite Golems require +3 weapons or better to damage (Lilarcor, the Hammer in this very room, Melf's Minute Meteors, etc). Then PAUSE and "talk" to all the golems. Then press F2 and have your fighters attack one golem. Unpause. Wait 5 seconds, pause again and repeat. Doing this you can avoid getting attacked at all. Note: Remember Clay Golems need to be hit with Blunt Weaponry. The Flail of the Ages works well. Stone Golems need piercing weaponry. And the only weapon I had that affected an Iron Golem was Lilarcor, the Sentient Sword. Trick: It's also possible to get the treasure without fighting the golems at all. I just had Aerie cast "Sanctuary" on herself before filching the weapons (all the other characters were in another room). As stealing the items isn't counted as a hostile action, the spell prevents the golems from acknowledging her existence. I think they're still activated, though, leaving the option to fight them available if you so wish (they just won't chase after Aerie). Swift 'n' sweet. [from SpookyScarecrow] Also, you can take the Flail part without the golems attacking you. You can even look in each of the statues to see what is there, as long as you don't take anything you won't be attacked. Once the golems are gone you can search the three statues at your leisure: Flail Head (Fire, 3 of 3) Axe +3: Frostreaver (extra Ice damage) Elven Court Long Bow +3 War Hammer +1, +4 vs. Giants Then you can open the other secret door and descend to the Cellar, I would, however, finish the Flail of the Ages first. - FINISHING THE FLAIL OF THE AGES Go back to the Secret Forge and use it with all 3 heads to create the completed Flail of the Ages. Oh, and you get 22,350 experience as well. Note: If you wait to finish the Flail until AFTER you take control of the Stronghold (if you are a Fighter type character) then you get NO Exp for finishing the Flail. - THE CELLAR (AR 1301) Back upstairs, open the other secret door and descend into the Cellar. There are three containers in here, most of which have merely minor treasures in them (magic arrows are fun). The TRAPPED chest at (x 875 y 265) has a: Shield Amulet Open the door and go into the next Troll-ridden room. There's a new type of troll here, called the Spectral Troll. Search two of the Iron Maidens at the top of the room to get an Identify Scroll. The next room is crawling with Umber Hulks. To prevent your entire party from being Confused and Slaughtered, send only one person in and have that person protected from Confusion (Mind Blank, Chaotic Commands, or have the Sentient Sword equipped, the Barbarian Rage command also works). Then draw the Umber Hulks into the previous room where they can be cut down. There are 4 containers in here, with mostly minor treasures, but some things stick out: Orc Leather +3 (-1 CHA) Bullets +2 and Bullets +1 Now I bet you're wondering what we're doing with that Dog Food. I know you are. Enter the southwestern passage (the one that is already open) and open the second cell door (x 850 y 1280). There is a tunnel here that searches like a container. It has some dog bones. Put the Dog Food here to get 18,750 experience. Note: If you want to avoid the Umber Hulk battle all you have to do is have someone sneak past them (invisible or hiding in shadows) and place the Dog Stew in its place. The Umber Hulks will then run out of the room to feed. But you can place the Dog Food there whether you have already killed the Umber Hulks or not. Through the northeastern door (x 2000 y 770) is the BOSS of this area, TorGal. TorGal seems to indicate that he was hired by someone to kill the Arnise family here. But who would do such a thing? Before you can find out you have to fight. You have to fight TorGal and his Giant Troll cronies. Many people like the spell "Cloudkill" here. TorGal - 15,000 exp Minor Treasures Then search the pedestal under the statue: Spells - Feeblemind (Mage) 2126 Gold Gems & Necklaces Leave the Keep and Nalia will give you your reward: 10,650 gold and 45,500 experience. Anything past this point is part of the Fighter's Stronghold Quests (and covered in the Strongholds section at the end of the walkthrough), and so if you are not a Fighter, you won't get it. In fact, if you aren't a fighter, Nalia can't stay here and the Keep will be seized by the Roenalls. Quests: ------- QUEST: Nalia's Father's Funeral This Quest can only happen AFTER you have cleared out the De'Arnise Hold AND Nalia is in your party. A week must pass after the reward for clearing the Keep is given. Then if you are in a city, a messenger will arrive and tell you to go to the Graveyard for her father's funeral. This is time based, you must go to the Graveyard or Nalia will go without you. Once at the Graveyard you will be met by the messenger who shows you to the Funeral site. Go up the stairs. There you will meet Isaea Roenall, her former fiance. Talking with him reveals the sort of person that he is, and why Nalia was in no rush to marry him. He ends his tirade with a threat and leaves. Nalia has an amusing little rant about him and you can go. QUEST: The Return of the Fiance & the Abduction of Nalia Barg - Docks (AR 0300, x 2380 y 2500) Roenall Estate - Government District (AR 1000, x 2810 y 140) 24 hours after the Funeral, Isaea tracks you and Nalia down and demands that she honor her commitments. He then places her under arrest using his authority as an Amnish official. She is taken into custody and he laughs at you. It is suggested (for me it was from Yoshimo) that I attempt to find some evidence of his wrong- doing and present it to his superiors. Note: On my latest journey through the game, I managed to trigger this event before it was time (in the middle of the funeral, in fact), such that he didn't kidnap her at all, merely repeated what he had said during the funeral. Why? Bodhi grabbed me and made her offer before Nalia could make her rant about Isaea being a bastard. So, to get Nalia kidnapped, I did a quick cheat with a CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("isaea") to get this quest. Then Khellor Ahmson comes up to you with a plan to get back at wicked Isaea. You are told to watch a man named Barg at the docks, to search Isaea's home in the Government district (which he will unlock) and to present any evidence you find to Corgeig Axehand, Isaea's superior. Go to the Docks and find Barg (he's near the Sea's Bounty). Talk to him and get him to reveal information on Isaea. He mentions one Officer Dirth, who happens to be in the Sea's Bounty right now. Enter the tavern and talk to him. This will end in violence. Dirth - 3200 exp Full Plate Mail Spells - Simulacrum (Mage) Slavery Documents We have evidence, but not enough yet. Go to the government district and go to the very top of the map. The building there is the Roenall building. Open it and go inside. Inside the bedroom, search the drawers there to get Isaea's financial records. Leave the house. Enter the Government Council Building and talk to Corgeig Axehand. Present him with all of your evidence (especially the financial records) and he will summon Isaea forth. Corgeig launches a major investigation towards Isaea, which frees up Nalia to rejoin you. Isaea promises that this isn't over yet. (yet that appears to be it for him) OTHER: Infinite Flame Arrows Captain Arat - De'Arnise Area (AR 1300, x 675 y 3320) This can only be done BEFORE the keep is liberated. Talk to Captain Arat and when you say farewell he gives you some Flame Arrows. Now simply talk to him again (3,3) and you will get another set of Flame Arrows. You can repeat this as often as you wish to get as many arrows as you wish. I would replace all of your regular arrows with Flame Arrows here. Once the Keep is liberated Arat leaves forever. Note: I've heard this doesn't work in ToB, but haven't confirmed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.4 [WNDSPR] Windspear Hills (AR 1200) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Can't get to the Windspear Hills? Go out through the City Gates first. Walkthrough: ------------ - LORD JIERDAN'S QUEST If you are here, then that can mean only one thing, that you are here because of Jierdan Firkraag. (There is also one Quest that can be done here, the Dryad's Acorns, see Quests below) When you arrive you will find the ogres you are looking for right away, and although a conversation starts, there is no way to avoid this battle. When they are all dead, the bodies turn into Knights and Garren Windspear approaches. You have been fooled into killing these Knights (you saw them as ogres, and I would imagine they saw you as the same). If you have Keldorn in your party, he'll mention that one of these knights is named Ajantis (who was in Baldur's Gate). Well, great, you just killed Ajantis. Garren offers to help. Follow him into his house and talk with him. He agrees to tell your story to the Order of the Radiant Heart, so that they don't think you are a simple evil-doer who kills their knights. When he leaves, you get to talk to his daughter (or son, it depends on what gender your main character is). You then automatically rest. Soon a halfling approaches and warns of bandits in the area. These bandits soon appear inside, kidnap the daughter (son) and attack you. Once they are dispatched, Garren returns and asks that you retrieve his daughter. Well, since it IS your fault... - FIND GARREN'S DAUGHTER (SON) Well, now we have to find the daughter (son) of Garren. Go up and right all the way to the corner to find Firkraag's big impressive Temple. You can't miss it (x 4300 y 500). Enter and you will find yourself in a Hobgoblin ambush. Hit the Shaman quickly and he turns back neutral and flees the battle. Just past them is another Hobgoblin group. Now go left and up. There will be many Kobolds here. Hit them with arrows from afar, as they explode into fireballs. Then kill their leader, Rukh. Rukh - 7000 exp Ring of Fire Resistance To the left is a pit which is guarded by Ogrillons (maybe not all the time). Below the Ogrillons is a smaller cavern with various types of Vampiric Mists (1000 exp) and Crimson Deaths (9000 exp) in it. You can search the pool (x 800 y 1600) to find some treasure: Amulet of Protection +1 Gems Go back north to where Rukh was open the door and go through. - SURVIVE FIRKRAAG'S AMBUSHES (AR 1202) Well you will find yourself in the middle of a room, with Orc Archers shooting at you from behind the walls. There are secret doors on each of the walls that can be opened to even the odds somewhat. You could go up these side passages, but I wouldn't recommend it. Open the main door (x 1860 y 2180) and go through that into a room. There is another door past this. Open it and go through. Now, depending on what level you are on, there are monsters here. If you are on a high level you will face an Adamantite Golem, otherwise you face only a couple Stone Golems. If you are fighting an Adamantite Golem, remember that it can't fit through those doors. Thusly you can hit and fade all you want. Go down the right passage, open the door and go in. Here we find the Troll Cook, who naturally wants to eat you. If you object to being eaten he has his goons try to kill you. Search the broken table to find some magical missiles (by which I mean arrows and bolts) and the Orcish Cookbook. This merely offers advice as to what types of monsters you will face here. (you don't need it) The next room has an Otyugh, but nothing else. Back to the passage, now we take the left door. (x 2050 y 1680) Here you find a couple of really scared Orcs. They don't want you to kill them, yet they obviously fear Firkraag more. Kill them if you wish. Now open the main door (x 2360 y 1820). There is another group of Orcs in here. Kill them and open the next door. To the right is a horde of vampires (sometimes it's mummies), most are worth 8500, but one is worth 12,500 experience. There is one trapped chest in here with treasure. Follow the passage right to another room. Within is a Greater Wraith (8000 exp). Search the floor to find a container with a Key and some bullets. (x 3140 y 2630) Go back to the main passage and take the left door this time (x 2600 y 1400). Samia will talk to you here (see Quests below), but she isn't crucial to what we are doing. (most of the doors here don't go anywhere, and are trapped to boot, which means you can get some easy experience off of them!) I would do the Samia quest, however, as there is good treasure to be had. Open the south door (x 2450 y 1400) and go through. Within this passage are several Wolfweres, which requires magical weapons to hit. Open the next door and enter the Well. Click the winch twice (x 1250 y 1230) to raise the bucket in the well to get yourself an item. This also raises an Air Elemental. Dragon Helm (sets Electrical, Fire and Ice resistances to 25%) Go through the southern door. There is a big hole in the wall here, go up it. Some monsters will be fighting it out here, join the battle and kill them all. (better experience that way) There is a secret door here (x 500 y 1050) along the north wall. In this room there are several Golems (including an Adamantite Golem) to be dispatched. Go back out and hold them in here if you need to. At the end of the room (x 800 y 450) is a thing of treasure: Heartseeker +3 Composite Long Bow Gems Go back to the previous room, and from there back to the passage and then through the southern door. Here are some "adventurers" (actually they are monsters disguised as adventurers, don't be fooled). They turn into Greater Wolfwere's (15,000 exp). There are some treasures in this room. Open the next door and fight off these wolfweres as well. The final room is a bit of an office and has some interesting treasures: Spells - Hold Undead (Mage) Hold Monster (Mage) Domination Horn of Blasting Arrows (etc.) - FINDING FIRKRAAG Go back to the well, and go north. There will be Orogs up here and a small room on the right. Open the next door (locked). This little staircase here is trapped. Within the next room you will find Chief DigDag (2000 exp, Delver's Plate +2) and your old buddy from Baldur's Gate, Tazok (6000 exp, Full Plate +1) as well as some goons. Tazok also has the mysterious Sewer Key, which although is pointless now, has a great use back in the Athkatla Sewers (see that section for details). Be sure to check this room for treasures, there are a lot of good gems and some good spells. You will find Garren's child in the right cell here (x 2380 y 700). However, she is locked in and cannot be freed by conventional methods. Find the stairs down. This is Firkraag's lair. Move forward and all becomes apparent. Firkraag is a Dragon. A red Dragon to be more specific. He talks to you and spills his entire diabolical scheme to you. Your duty is to Garren's child, so don't force a confrontation just yet. He sends his mage, Conster up to the previous level. You must go up and battle Conster to save her (him). Kill Conster, take the key and free the child. (23,750 experience) Evil Note: If you are one of the three Evil alignments you can offer to swipe the Deed off of Garren in exchange for treasure. Conster immediately kills the child of Garren, and you are sent to Garren. Steal or kill Garren to get the Deed. Return to Firkraag to get your reward. (40,500 exp, Cloak of the Shield) This has no effect on reputation, however, some party members will leave when you accept this quest. [from Nick McIsaac] Go back to Garren's Cabin and talk to Garren. If you are a Paladin he says that he will put in a good word for you at the Order of the Radiant Heart. (everyone gets 44,500 experience) - DRAGONSLAYING If your main character is a Paladin then your paths will cross with this Dragon again (as part of the Paladin Stronghold, see that section at the end of the walkthrough). Or even if you aren't a Paladin, and simply want to try your luck killing a dragon, you can. Note: If you ARE a Paladin, don't kill Firkraag until your stronghold asks you to. If you kill him before reaching the Stronghold they won't give you experience for killing him. (David Lyons) In any case, when you go back to Firkraag's Lair, he doesn't attack you. He still has the Cyan Circle, meaning that you can talk to him. Which means that you can easily use the "fake talk" strategy (see Attack Strategies above) to kill him. Firkraag - 64,000 exp Red Dragon Scales Holy Avenger +5 Cloak of the Shield 1500 gold Spells Quests: ------- QUEST: Give the Fairy Queen the Dryad's Acorns Fairy Queen - Windspear Hills (AR 1200, x 4050 y 3050) This is the finale of the first Quest we got, waaay back in Irenicus' dungeon. Simply go right from Garren's house and you will find the Fairy Queen. She automatically talks to you, give her the acorns and you get 32,500 experience. You get another 9750 experience when the Dryads arrive. They thank you and leave. QUEST: Samia and the Tomb of King Strohm III Samia - Firkraag's Dungeon (AR 1202, x 2500 y 1300) You meet Samia deep within Firkraag's dungeon. She claims to be searching for information on the old King Strohm III. You can agree to help her if you wish, or you can be suspicious and accuse her of being more than she seems. (After taking the Quest, if you talk to her again and say that you want all the treasure for yourself, she and a group of ruffians will attack you.) Anyway, on to the Tomb. Open the first door (x 2600 y 1300). Open the first door on your left, enter this room, and open the next door on the left to find the First Guardian (x 2500 y 900). Talk to, then kill the Guardian to get the first piece of the Burial Mask. Go back to the previous room (you can find a book and some scrolls here), and open the top door (x 2733 y 900). Tip: Use the Mage spell 'Protection from Fire' on someone in your party and have them go in alone. Without their fire damaging you, you can easily beat them. (Rolander) In the room opposite of this door is a Beholder-like creature called the "Director". Kill it, but don't go through the other door yet. Go back into the hall, and down. There are four rooms on this hall, each has a "Guardian" in it, and each of these has another piece of the mask. Then go back to the Director's room and open the next door. Then open the left door to find the last of the Guardians. Kill it and take the last of the pieces of the burial mask. It will then fuse together into the completed product. (24,550 exp) Equip the Mask on someone and open the next door. An invisible Fire Elemental is in here, and you can only see it (and attack it) if someone is wearing the mask. Kill it to get 10,000 experience. Note: Keldorn's 'True Sight' ability has the power to reveal this invisible elemental. (Rolander) Open the last door and enter. This is the all that remains of King Strohm III. As you can see there's nothing here. However, you can search the other end of the room to get some good Dragon hunting treasure: Dragonslayer Sword (immunity to fear, regenerate, 2xdmg to Drgns) Dragon Scale Shield (resistances to fire, ice, electricity) Of course, if you didn't deal with Samia before, she now will bring her merry little band to you and attack. Kill her and her goons. (6000-9000 exp each): Plate Mail +1 Studded Leather +2 Gold Other minor treasures Tetrazome has an interesting way of dealing with this: If you didn't deal with Samia before, and you grab the two pieces of treasure, she and her goons appear to attack you. Before you pick up the treasure, first put everyone in your party into the room where it is (so none are in the room where Samia appears). Then take your mage, and have him cast skull trap 3 times into the middle of the room where they appear, then grab the treasure. They'll appear and instantly die. You may wonder what you can do with the Burial Mask. Well, Henning Roes discovered that not only can thieves and other non-helmet wearing classes wear the Mask, but it seems to protect against Critical Hits! OTHER: Ankhegs There are several Ankhegs in the hills area. Kill them to get their shells which can be turned into an armor by Cromwell the Dwarf (at the Docks). It's not a very good armor, but it's better than Plate Mail. Although Plate Mail + Ring of Protection is better than Ankheg Mail. OTHER: The Werewolves Werewolves - Windspear Hills (AR 1200, x 2020 y 1080) You will find a group of "fighters" fighting another group of Gnolls. They bicker about things for awhile, then turn into werewolves and attack you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.5 [THPLNR] The Planar Sphere ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - ENTER THE SPHERE Starting from the Slums, you have to enter the house right next to the Sphere first. This takes you right next to the Sphere. Now you must have Valygar in your party (or his corpse) in order to open the Sphere. Once it is opened, you don't NEED Valygar to continue, although I would take him in just the same. Enter the Sphere. You will be in a small hallway that leads to a door, open it. There are now three doors in front of you. Open the leftmost one first (x 2700 y 2700). It does a little double door thing. Here you find a Clay Golem, kill it. (blunt weaponry works best) There are four containers in here, one of which has the Golem Arm and Planar Key, both of which you will need. Another container has Coal, which you also need. There are also minor treasures here, mostly spells. Back to the previous room. The top right door leads to a map room and a Steam Mephit, but we don't need to go there. Open the top door (x 2800 y 2500) and go through. This activated the Planar Sphere and sent it to the Abyss, if you were wondering. In this room you will encounter three knights of Solamnia who are trapped in the Sphere. They warn you of Halflings. Evil Halflings. You can search their table: Spells - Khelben's Warding Whip (Mage) Minor Treasures Unlock the top door and go into that room. This is the water room, I suppose, and is filled with Sahuagins. These guys have only minor treasures (although one has a Cloak of Protection +1). Go back to the Knight room, then open the left door and go through. This is the famous Feral Halfling room. You have to fight 3 halflings right away, followed by more as you go left. There are also Halfling Mages and Priests farther left. One of the Halflings has: Coal (which we need) Gauntlets of Ogre Might (sets STR to 18/00, part of the Crom Faeyr) - BUILDING A GOLEM Continue leftwards on the path, it curves up into a new room. There is a big bloody machine here used to create Golems, all you need is a Head and an Arm. Well, we have an arm. Search the table (x 500 y 1425) to find: Golem Building Book Coal (3 of 3) Minor Treasures Open the north door, go up the passage and into the Furnace Room. Here there will be more Halfling Warriors. (I found only a +2 dagger on these goons) Each of the three furnaces in here requires coal to activate. So walk up to each of them, and click them twice. When each one is activated, a Fire Elemental (or similar creature) will appear from it and attack you. Once those are active (those are to power the Golem making machine), go through the right passage (being careful to check for traps, of course). Within this room are several golems (I fought an Iron Golem, a Clay Golem and three Stone Golems). Then search the box to the left of the gears (x 1620 y 480): Golem Head Coal (useless now) Gems Arrows Now that we have the head, back to the Golem making machine. You must click on the machine three times (once to identify the machine, twice to build the golem, and three times to set it free). (23,500 exp) The Golem senses an intruder, opens the door to the right, and rushes out to go get the intruder. Follow the golem. The first passage is trapped. The golem finds an Elder Orb Beholder, you can help kill it if you want the experience (14,000 exp). But more importantly, he opened the door for you. Open the door to the right and go through. - LAVOK We are now one door away from the evil mage, Lavok. Make your preparations, open the door and take him down. Use Pierce Magic to remove his spell immunity, and Breach to get rid of his Weapons Immunity and he is a piece of cake. Soon he has a change of heart (saying that the evil has left him) (28,750 exp). Although Valygar is skeptical, Lavok says that all he wants now is to die on the Prime Material Plane, i.e. home. This coincides with your goals of getting home as well. In order to do that we have to repair the Sphere, and that requires getting a Demon's Heart. Convenient that we happen to have traveled to the Abyss, no? Warning: Do NOT use "Fake Talk" on Lavok! If you do this, then you will never be able to get him out of the Sphere! Note: Once Lavok has been defeated, and is lying on the floor, you can pick his pocket to get the Ring of Acuity. Before you do that, there are two rooms connected to this one with some monsters and treasures you might want to look at. (Mostly +1 and +2 stuff, which depending on where you are in the game, might be worth your time) There is also some treasure at: (x 1050 y 550) - GET A DEMON'S HEART (AR 0414) Anyway, return all the way to where we first came in, and exit the Sphere. Welcome to Hell! One version of it, anyway. We are here for one (ONE) demon heart. There are about 3 possible hearts for you to choose from, but we only need one. There are also various Imps, Quasits and Salamanders wandering around here. The first demon is found just left and up from the Sphere. Tanar'ri - (x 1080 y 2020) - 10,000 experience The others are found to the right of that first one within the main area. Lea'liyl - (x 1910 y 1350) - 16,000 experience Tanar'ri - (x 2150 y 1760) - 10,000 experience Once you have a heart, return to the Sphere. - REPAIR THE SPHERE Go to the Orb Room (the room just after where we built the golem and just before where the golem killed the Beholder). There are four symbols on the ground that must be pressed in order to open the south door. The Runes must be clicked on. 1 4 3 2 (Step on the top one first, then the bottom one, the right one and finally the left one, 24,500 experience) Go down the southern passage, and down the stairs. Within the first room here you will meet Tolgerias again. (remember the Cowled Wizard we got this quest from in the first place?) He isn't happy to see you, and he and his flunky attack you. Tolgerias - 18,000 experience Ring of the Ram From here there are two doors, an Iced over door and a Hot door. Each eventually leads to the same place, so we are going to search one, then the other, and finally enter the engine room. Open the Ice Door first (x 900 y 1000). In here are various monsters (Ice Salamanders, Imps, and Trolls). Then search the machine in the center to get some treasures: Helmet of Defense Ice Arrows Spells - Otiluke's Resilient Sphere (Mage) Go back to the previous room, and open the Fire Door (x 1450 y 1100). This room has worse monsters (Greater Fire Elemental, Efreeti, etc.), but also has better treasure. Search the base of the thing in the center to find: Spells - Spirit Armor (Mage) Globe of Invulnerability (Mage) Staff of Fire +2 Large Shield +1, +4 vs. Missiles Fire Arrows When you are ready for another battle, head up to the next door (x 1750 y 500) and go out. The only thing we have to do here, is get the Demon's Heart into the machine which is right in front of you. Standing in your way are whatever Golems happen to be in here right now. Feed a Heart into the machine and the Planar Sphere returns to Athkatla (45,500 experience). Trick: I replayed the sphere for testing, and this time I entered the room where you have to place the heart through the cold room. No golem. I walked near the machine. Nothing. But when I went back there were 3 golems waiting just where I entered the room. Reloading and another try. This time I left my party waiting there and walked with a fighter to loot the stuff in the north-eastern part. There was a golem. But the other golems didn't appear. If you're on low level this is an easy way to get through this part. (Henning Roes) There is a TRAPPED thing of treasure off to the right (x 1230 y 350): Ring of Danger Sense (+25% Trap Detection) 6000 gold Lots of Gems Return to Lavok, talk to him and agree to take him outside the Sphere. You will be automatically taken outside where Lavok dies. (everyone gets 45,500 experience) Valygar wonders about life and asks to join you permanently. Search Lavok for: Ring of Acuity (Learn extra 2nd, 3rd and 4th level spells, Mage) And at this point, a Mage would gain the Sphere as his Stronghold. (see the Strongholds section at the end of the walkthrough) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.6 [THGRVY] The Graveyard (AR 0800) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quests: ------- QUEST: The Mournful Paladin and the Little Girl Paladin - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 920 y 820) Arenthis - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 2345 y 1875) Just to the right of the entrance to the graveyard you will find a Priest named Arenthis (x 2345 y 1875). He has been given charge of a young girl, Risa, whose parents are dead. She is very sad. He can't really take care of her and asks for help in this matter. Can you find someone that can take care of her? Go northwards through the graveyard until you find the Paladin, Kamir. He recently lost an adopted son and mourning for him. He could not protect him and blames himself. Tell him that he didn't fail. Then mention the orphan girl with the priest and he perks right up. Maybe he could save her! You get 12,250 experience from Kamir. Follow Kamir down to the little girl where the two meet. He decides to help her and the two leave. For this you get 3000 exp. Then the Priest talks to you, and is very pleased himself. QUEST: Buried Alive Open Grave - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 1000 y 685) Gravekeeper - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 1550 y 400) Red Garment Man, Am Si - Bridge (AR 0500, x 1680 y 3515) In the northern part of this graveyard, near Kamir the Paladin is an open grave where someone was buried alive. Click on the grave to get Tirdir out of it. Agree to help him, and ask him for any information he can give you. He gives you a piece of a Red Garment (6500 exp) and tells you it belonged to his kidnapper. The first step in this is to talk with the Gravekeeper, a man who looks very much like a beggar. You will find him north of the grave and a little east. Talk to the man. No reason for subtlety here, just threaten him and demand answers. He points you to the bridge district. At the very southern end of the bridge district, just a little to the right you will find Am Si, the infamous "man in red." Talk to him. Pretty much anything you say is going to result in him running into the nearby building to your left. Enter it. Here you will find Am Si's employers, Camitis and his goon. They kill Am Si and flee. Go out after them. Take Camitis out before he manages to escape the area (FORCE-attack them). The only good treasure on the two is on his goon, the Boots of Avoidance. Go back inside, and upstairs to find another kidnap victim, Lady Elgea. You get 16,750 experience for freeing her. Note: If you have Keldorn in your party, he won't allow you keeping Lady Elgea and asking for the ransom. He'll say something like "Forgive my friend's rudeness, my lady, of course you're free to go" and will give you 10,000 xp instead of 16,000. [from RedCodeKevin] Alternatively, you could force her to remain here until you collect the Ransom. Check the dresser by the bed to get the Ransom Note, which tells you where and when. Then go at nightfall to the Copper Coronet. Talk to Welther there and he gives you the "agreed upon" item, the Silver Pantaloons. Oh, and your Reputation Drops by 2. The Silver Pantaloons is one of the best treasures you can get... if you have Throne of Bhaal that is. Take them with the other 2 Pantaloons to Amkethran and have the Smith assemble them there. QUEST: Wellyn the Halfling Ghost Child and his Teddy bear "Littleman" Wellyn's Grave - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 1625 y 1740) Llynis - Copper Coronet (AR 0406, x 665 y 545) When you visit the Graveyard at night you may notice a little ghost wandering around. That is Wellyn. Let him talk to you and hear his sad tale. A thief broke into his house, stole his bear, and killed him. Now you need to find his bear so that he will be at peace and roam no more. You will find this evildoer in one of the rooms in the Copper Coronet. Talk to Llynis and ask about him having seen ghosts recently. You can demand the bear, but he may attack you anyway. Give Wellyn the bear for 15,500 experience. During the day you can then talk to the parents of Wellyn (who stand near his grave) for another 5000 experience. QUEST: Find the Nether Scroll for Edwin [from Blackhawk] Crypt - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 640 y 1830) Neveziah - Lower Crypts (AR 0802, x 2160 y 1300) Edwin's quest comes up when you enter the graveyard with Edwin in your party. He'll mention rumors of the Nether Scrolls hidden in the graveyard, more specifically the Lower Tombs. Now in the Southern Dungeons of the Lower Tombs (the area where you have to go for Korgan's Quest but in the opposite branch -- east instead of south) you'll find a lich named Neveziah (8000 XP). He'll talk with you and hint he has the Nether Scrolls, at which point Edwin will try to forcibly take them. Now with Neveziah dead, Edwin has the Nether scrolls (11,750 exp). Per Jorner adds this: Whether or not Edwin's Nether Scroll quest can be completed depends on what you say to him when you find the scroll. If you tell him that the scroll is "party treasure", for some reason the quest won't proceed beyond that point. Now after 5 days he'll talk about a translation in his Nether Scroll and Edwin will receive a +1 bonus to all Saving throws, +20 to his lore, and 50,000 XP. (you won't see that he gained anything, but he did) One note on this is there is a sound attached to the bonuses, but has a save vs. death on it (checked the coding of it out), so sometimes you'll not hear the sound and save vs. death pops up. So the Save vs. Death is nothing suspicious or special. Now 24 hours after the last event Edwin will come up with another revelation saying it's a transformation spell like a mage to lich but more powerful. He doesn't understand it completely but wants the power so he casts it and screws up. Hence Edwin becomes a woman. They change his entire voice set. One attack quote is funny as hell. (I feel your stares! Die! Die!) And as far as I know he has Yoshimo, Cernd, Jaheira(2?), Minsc(2 or 3), Aerie, and Anomen (funny one) all have one or more special reactions over this time. Now quite some time (20 days or more) after the transformation a Red Wizard named Degardan will visit you. He will be searching for Edwin. You can turn him in (5000 XP, 5000 GP) or cover for him. Degardan will return 2 days later and will know that Edwin is "disguised" as a woman. He then proves it by dispelling the Nether Scrolls magic and turns Edwin back. Edwin then thanks Degardan for this. Then he proceeds to destroy Degardan (8500 experience, Quarterstaff +2, Wand of Monster Summoning, 2 potion extra healing, death spell, 2 random treasures) for witnessing the humiliation. OTHER: Nevin's Not-so-dead Uncle Lester Nevin - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 715 y 1580) If you follow the left path upwards you will run into Nevin's funeral service for his dear departed Uncle. Except his uncle refuses to stay dead. Uncle Lester rises from the grave and starts complaining at his nephew. If you kill Lester (he never turns Red) you get 1000 exp + 6500 exp and some gold. Nevin isn't very grateful that you saved his life, and only complains about you. OTHER: Crypt King Crypt King - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 750 y 850) If you search most of the crypts in the graveyard, you find minor monsters guarding minor treasures. Mummies guarding an Axe +2, or whatnot. However, there is one notable exception, and that is the Crypt King. You find him in the crypt just to the right of the top left crypt. He appears to be a paladin of some sort and requires magical weapons to hit. Crypt King - 15,000 experience Spells - Simulacrum (Mage) Namarra +2 (Long Sword, casts Silence 15') You can then search the two containers in here for some minor treasures. (rings and necklaces) OTHER: The Spider Queen Crypt - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 640 y 1830) Egg Sac - Main Crypt (AR 0801, x 2400 y 2500) Within the main crypt here, in the center of the area you will see what looks to be a giant spider egg sac. As you near it you will be attacked by several Giant types of Spiders. Within this place is a Drow woman who is about to sacrifice a bunch of commoners to her spiders. They die, and about 30 small spiders attack you. They aren't bad themselves, but they are all poisonous. One Cloudkill will kill them all. Pai Na - 4000 exp Spider Figurine (summons a Giant Spider) Spider Figurine - Kitthix STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 9 9 9 9 9 THAC0 HP AC Attacks Weapon 14 44 4 1.5 1d8 (plus poison) Saves: Death - 12, Wand - 14, Poly - 13, Breath - 14, Spells - 14 Resistances: Magic - 10% Immunities: Hold, Web Special Abilities: Web Tangle - 2 Search the center of this area for treasure: Pale Green Ioun Stone (+10% HP, +1 to THAC0) Spells - Spider Spawn (Mage) Spell Immunity (Mage) OTHER: Night Thieves Thieves - Graveyard (AR 0800, x 1720 y 1065) If you come here at night, you will find several thieves attempting to break into one of the crypts. Since that is YOUR job, kindly tell them to stop it. They attack you. They aren't too tough to dispatch. (non-violent solution? Stein) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.7 [CTYGTE] City Gate (AR 0020) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- The only reason to come here is to leave Athkatla. This area will lead you out to the Windspear Hills, Trademeet, Umar Hills, etc. Quests: ------- QUEST: Flydian and Trademeet (Druid's Grove) Flydian - Gate (AR 0020, x 500 y 680) In the center of the Gate area is a man named Flydian who is seeking Adventures to help out his hometown of Trademeet. Agree to help him if you want. You can go to Trademeet at any time. See section 10. Trademeet for the continuation of this Quest. OTHER: Two Star-Crossed Lovers When you first enter the Crooked Crane Inn, an annoying fellow named Rilmi blabs on about some lovers who aren't meant to be. Upstairs you'll find this duo, and despite being a complete stranger, you can convince them that they should really be together. It's amusing but nothing else. OTHER: Lich in a Wall Secret Door - Crooked Crane Inn (AR 0021, x 515 y 160) Within the Crooked Crane you will find a Secret Door that leads to a small Crypt. Within is a Lich. Very powerful. You probably won't want to tackle it until you are a fairly high (11+) level. Liches are well know for their casting of Gate (summons a Pit Fiend, a nasty demon, but one you can avoid by casting Protection from Evil 10' Radius before the battle), Time Stop (which allows the Lich to cast about 4 spells really quickly) and Meteor Swarm. The best strategy would go something like this: Prepare a trap in the Inn in case the rest fails, Haste everyone, cast other protective spells, send in only the warriors with +2 or better weaponry. Quickly pause before the Lich talks to you. Now we're going to employ my patented "Fake Talk" strategy. Click on the Lich as though you were going to talk to it. Now do a Force-attack on the Lich and Unpause. The Lich will wait at least 6 seconds before attacking. (You can try pausing again and doing more Fake Talks if you want) If he snaps out of it and starts casting spells, retreat to the Inn. The Lich MAY follow you out, but probably won't. Then you can go in at your leisure. (He WILL follow you out if he's finished casting his spells) Lich - 22,000 exp Ring of Invisibility Wand of Cloudkill Wand of Lightning Rod of Terror (Quarterstaff +3) Wand of Fire With him out of the picture, you can then search his crypt for treasure. The chest has: Daystar (Long Sword good vs. Undead) OTHER: The Merchant and the Thug This one only happens if you have visited the Gate once, then come back 5 days later. There will be a merchant and a thug standing just outside the Inn here. There are three ways to handle this situation, one good, one evil and another crafty. Offer to help defend the Merchant and the Thug will leave, then the Merchant will sell you his wares for cheap. WARNING! He will only sell you things ONCE, after that he LEAVES FOREVER. To be Evil, stand aside and do nothing. To be Crafty, encourage the Thug to kill the merchant, he won't and leaves. You don't get to buy items that way. OTHER: Bribery and Guards At the Gate itself, a shady merchant (possibly a Shadow Thief) bribes the City Guard to let him pass with his contraband. You can ask the guard about this, but he won't talk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.8 [THBRDG] The Bridge (AR 0500) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quests: ------- QUEST: Solve the Murders Tanner's House - Bridge District (AR 0500, x 2700 y 2600) Rampah - Bridge (AR 0500, x 2633 y 1185) Rose Bouquet - Bridge (AR 0500, x 2950 y 1980) Bel - Bridge (AR 0500, x 2650 y 2050) When you first enter the Bridge District you will be confronted by Aegisfield, an officer of Amn. He is investigating a series of murders in the area in which the victims were skinned alive. Pleasant. Tell him that you intend to solve these murders. Just west of that point some peasants are commenting on the murders. Hmmm... skinned alive... well the first suspect would be the person who skins animals alive for a living, the Tanner. So go into the Tanner's Shop and talk to him. Rejiek, the tanner, acts very suspiciously, but doesn't really do anything illegal. At this point there is an easy way and a not as easy way to get him to reveal himself as the murderer (and a near infinite experience bug if you know how to do it). Easy: Fail to pick his pockets (or attack him) and he reveals himself. Trick: Surround Rejiek on all sides such that he can't move anywhere. Then get him to reveal himself (pick his pockets, attack him, etc.). He then talks to you and you get experience for revealing him. But since he cannot move, he cannot leave the area. PAUSE quickly. Talk to him again to get the experience again. PAUSE, talk. PAUSE, talk. Keep on doing that until you get the "he appears to be busy" message. Not So Easy: Once you have talked to Rejiek, you need to go gather evidence to present to Aegisfield. Start with the beggar by the arch, Rampah. Either threaten or bribe him until he reveals that some leather was found with the bodies. Next visit the courtesan, Rose Bouquet, in the Market Square. You will have to buy her time (20 gold) but she tells you that she smelled Guril Berries at the murder sites. Next talk to Bel, the merchant, about both the leather and the berries. Return to Rose and she will identify the smell as Bark, not berry, which is also used in making leather goods. (there are other people to talk to, but they lead you to red herrings) Note: If you talk to the child Faraji, he accuses Mrs. Cragmoon of being an evil witch. You can talk to her and she admits to being a mage. Then you can turn her in to Aegis. No reward, and in 2 days or so, she will attack you. Go back and talk to Aegisfield at the entrance to the bridge district. Give him your evidence and he agrees to go check out the tanner's. Go to the tanner's yourself. You will notice the Tanner, his thugs (if you accused him beforehand), and whatnot, but you won't see Aegis. Talk to the tanner and confront him with the evidence. Alternatively, you can confront the Tanner with the evidence yourself. The only real difference is that Aegis doesn't get killed (and thusly you can collect a reward from him as well). (Craig Gibbens) You get 23,250 experience for getting the Murderer to reveal himself. Follow him down the stairs. This level is very, very heavily trapped. De-trap the room and all the containers. Search his dresser to find the Tanner's Letter (useful if you want to find out what he intended to do with the human skins). Search the top bed to find his unfinished "work" (human skin). The other bed has some treasures in it (gems and the like). The container near the stairs will have Aegis' body (if you did things the "non easy" way, that is). Go down the next stairs. Here you will find an enemy mage (who teleports out later), a Rune Assassin and 2 Ghasts. When the mage leaves, he brings in a new Assassin for you to deal with. The Assassins are worth 4500 exp each, which isn't bad. The big crate in the center of the room is TRAPPED, but has the: Gesen Bow Shaft There are a couple other treasures here, but nothing noteworthy. Now, if you did this the Easy way, go to Aegis and tell him what has happened. He gives you a reward: 45,000 experience and 500 gold. If you collected the evidence anyway you still get the reputation +1. If you did things the Not So Easy way, go to the Government District and enter the council building. At the very back is Chief Inspector Brega, tell him what has happened and give him the body to get your reward: 45,000 experience, 500 gold and a Reputation Increase +1. There is more to this in Trademeet later. QUEST: Raelis Shae Begs for Help (Bard's Stronghold) Five Flagons Inn - Bridge (AR 0500, x 3200 y 2000) In the basement of the Five Flagons there is a theatre that is currently run by a group of wandering players. Go watch the show and you will see Biff the Understudy in the role of a lifetime... screw up royally. Raelis Shae comes out and apologizes for this farce and begs for any adventurers to come see her. She begs you to rescue their friend Haer'Dalis from the wizard Mekrath who is holding him somewhere in the Sewers. QUEST: Rescue Haer'Dalis from the Mage, Mekrath Secret Door - Sewers (AR 0701, x 1080 y 550) Imp - Sewers (AR 0701, x 2530 y 2120) Head out to the Temple District and enter through one of the sewer grates there. Go to the top of the sewers area, and search for the left secret door there (the right one leads to the Mind Flayers Quest, see the Sewers section for more information). This secret passage leads to a set of stairs to Mekrath's Lair. Once here you have to fight through a bunch of Mephits. Place look familiar? Yep, it's reused from Baldur's Gate (Durlag's Tower). You can find a couple of spells in the left library. In the right room are two trapped chests, and above that are some monsters. (one time they were Yuan-ti and Yuan-ti mages, the other time they were Umber Hulks and Minotaurs) The chests have minor treasures and: Necklace of Form Stability There is another trapped chest in the monster room with some gold a spell and a potion. North of that is a temple looking room, that is doubly trapped (on the floor and the pedestal). Beyond that you will find Haer'Dalis, but he seems to be a little out of it right now. From the main room, go south. This leads to a room where a skeleton is lying on a table. There are two containers in here (one trapped) with more minor treasures. (spells and potions mostly) Past this is a passage to the left that leads to Mekrath the mage. There are two ways to handle this situation, the violent way and the non-violent way. We'll do the violent way first. While talking with Mekrath, if you piss him off (I merely mentioned the Gem) and he attacks you. I found that using a Chaotic Commands on myself beforehand worked well. Mekrath - 14,000 experience Mage Robe of Fire Resistance Minor Treasures Just past Mekrath, you can search some containers for treasure: Rod of Resurrection Wand of Cloudkill Potions And the non-violent way. Talk to Mekrath and ask for the release of Haer'Dalis (don't mention the gem). He will bargain Haer'Dalis' release if you track down an imp for him and retrieve a magical mirror from it. Return to the sewers. You'll find the Imp skulking about in the bottom right portion of the sewers. Approach and he yells at you that the mirror is his. Kill him and take the mirror. Return it to Mekrath for 18,750 experience. He releases Haer'Dalis (who you will find in the center area now) and leaves. You can then take the items behind him anyway. Finally go back to the templey room and take the gem from the pedestal (as well as the Harp and Necklace). Once you have that you can return to Raelis Shae. She gives you 1000 gold for rescuing the actor and the gem. (more for the gem) And they begin preparations to leave this Plane. (21,250 experience) QUEST: Rescue Haer'Dalis from the Planar Prison Raelis asks for your help to defend them while they summon the portal to the next plane. Agree to help and then kill anything that comes through the portal. After battling quasits, fire elementals and shadow fiends, a bounty hunter comes through and steals the group. You then have to follow them into the Portal. Welcome to the Planar Prison, one of the worst spots in the multiverse. You will find yourself quickly in a battle with the Bounty Hunter and his cronies. Keep the mages out of the battle and you won't have too much trouble with them. Be sure to search them for treasure: Boots of Speed Cloak of the Shield Melodic Chain +3 (Elven Chainmail, Bards only) Wand of the Heavens Afterwards Tagget, a prisoner here, fills you in on the details of this place. The only way out is to kill the Cambion who runs this place, who is located directly above you. However, going up against him directly might be too dangerous so you might want to go right, up, and left to find the Master of Thralls to free the slaves here. Then they could assist you in defeating the cambion. Complicating things are the Ground Portals, pulsating heart like things in the ground that pull you into small guarded areas. These should generally be avoided. Go right and you will have to fight a group of Thralls. In the center of this area is a Brazier that glows hot. If only you had something that needed destroying in it. Continue right and you'll see the first ground portal. Just past this are a bunch of enemies (not just Thralls, some are monsters). Search the female Thralls after they are dead for treasure: Kundane Short Sword +2 (very fast) Ring of Protection +1 Gauntlets of Weapon Skill (improves THAC0) Go up to the Wyvern's Nest, and then left to find the Master of Thralls. He likes to summon Air Elementals (if you had the Ring of Air Mastery, this would be a lot easier). Master of Thralls - 16,000 experience Staff of Air (Summons or Controls Air Elemen) Mastery Orb Note: The Staff of Air might look like it only has one charge on Summon Elemental, but this is ONE CHARGE PER DAY. When he dies, the thrall nearby tells you to destroy the orb somehow. If only there was a brazier around here. Go back right, down and left to the brazier and click it to destroy the orb. (24,750 experience) With that destroyed, all the Thralls will turn on the Cambion. So, either hurry over there and join the battle, or let them get killed by the Cambion so that you can steal their things later. Either way, you'll find the cambion just north of your starting position, and just left of the Master of Thralls position. Warden - 10,000 experience Ajatha the Drinker (Long Sword +2, immune to charm) Wave Shaft (part of the Wave Halberd) Gems Planar Prison Key Kill the Warden (10,000 exp) and all his monsters and Tagget will appear, say thanks and give you 5000 more exp. Note: There are actually three containers of treasure on this level, one of which is in the Warden's Room. These all have things such as arrows or bolts. See if you can find all three! (they're hidden in the moss on the walls) Go over to the left to free Raelis Shae and Haer'Dalis. Haer'Dalis wants to stay with you and follows you back to the Prime Material Plane. He can then join you if you wish. Also, if you are a Bard, Raelis gives you the deed to the Theatre before she leaves. (everyone is given 44,000 experience) See the STRONGHOLDS section for more details. QUEST: The Rogue Stone Doorway and the Twisted Rune Door - Bridge (AR 0500, x 1800 y 3345) I would highly recommend leaving this one alone until chapter 6, it is one of the hardest battles, if not the hardest battle, in the game. On the side of the Elemental Lich's building (see below) is a door that seems to lead nowhere. You can't enter it. That is, unless you have a Rogue Stone in your possession. Then you enter into a strange place, where a Lich named Shangalar confronts you. This is NOT an easy battle by any definition. He quickly summons forth many difficult creatures (Beholders and the like). All of which are tougher than their normal versions. What you must do is try to fight only one of the monsters at a time. Note: The battle with Lich Shangalar turned out to be the easiest of all after I figured out I could cast "mass invisibility" on my party. He and his mage assistant Layene wasted all their time stop but couldn't cast anything on my party members. This only works with Shangalar because the other liches are smarter and cast true sight or some other spell to get rid of invisibility. [from Sonia] For my preparations I set 8 traps around the alcove where you first appear. Then when Shangalar attacked, he was instantly killed (sweet!). Then I cast Protection from Magical Energy on everyone to keep us safe from various spells, Death Ward to protect from others, Invoke Courage (Mazzy) to prevent Fear, Haste, Protection from Evil and Defensive Harmony. Then I ducked everyone as far away from the table as possible. I moved one person out to trigger the Lich, then as soon as that conversation was done I moved him back. The lich was killed by the traps (fun). I then moved out the person wearing the Shield of Balduran (one of the Collector's Edition items) to attract the notice of the Beholder. The rays were reflected by the shield back at the Beholder and it turned itself to stone. I then huddled everyone back in the corner to take out their warrior. Then I moved out, took out the Vampire. Finally I confronted Layene and her Pit Fiend. Shangalar - 50,000 experience Gold Layene - 4000 experience Staff of the Magi (+2 AC, Invisible, Immunities, etc.) To exit this area, take the Beholder Eye, put it in the Cauldron. Then use the machine at the top of the room to teleport out. OTHER: Valeria's Band of Goons Building - Bridge (AR 0500, x 4000 y 1525) Within one of the buildings you will find yourself locked in combat with some goons for no apparent reason. Who are they? Why are they "red"? Who knows. Take them out. The goons don't have much in the way of treasure ON them, but are worth a fair amount of exp. (Valeria is 12,000 exp) Then search the room for treasures, mostly gems and spells. OTHER: Captain Dennis and the Mercenaries of Riatavin Delosar's Inn - Bridge (AR 0500, x 2060 y 3040) Note: Killing Captain Dennis now prevents you from being able to do the Limited Wish adventure later. Within the Delosar's Inn on the second floor you will find the second group of mercenaries in the game, this one lead by Captain Dennis. Again they make a tempting target for you to take out. First I would ignore what they say and calm them down. Then you can make whatever battle preparations you wish. Then simply attack them when you are ready. Captain Dennis - 7300 experience Throwing Dagger +2 (Boomerang) Full Plate Potions (etc.) Mercenaries of Riatavin - 3200 to 7300 exp Full Plate (etc.) The three chests in here have minor treasures (spells, gold, etc.) OTHER: The Elemental Lich Lich's House - Bridge (AR 0500, x 1600 y 3350) At the very south of this area there are two houses. One leads to the kidnappers of Tirdir (the bottom one) and the top one leads to our second lich (assuming you went by the city gates and met THAT lich). If you're feeling up to it, unTRAP the door and enter. Go into the basement. There you will see a great sarcophagi in the center of the room. You need to click on it twice to release the Lich. This is the Elemental Lich (and part of the Kangaxx Quest, see the Docks section). He is easily dispatched with the "Fake Talk" strategy, where you PAUSE, click on him as though to talk to him, then kill him. (Pausing every 5 seconds to do another "fake talk") 22,000 experience. Then click on his sarcophagus again to get Kangaxx's Torso. Another "cheese" strategy is to use a "protection from undead" scroll (you can get some in the Adventurer's Mart and most temples). Undead, including liches, won't even look at you. OTHER: Boots of Stealth & a Gem In the Five Flagons, if you talk to the barkeeper with Mazzy in the party he'll give you some Boots of Stealth. If you talk to him with Haer'Dalis he'll give you a gem. (many people mentioned this) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.9 [GVRNMN] Government District (AR 1000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Companions: ----------- Jan 9 17 15 16 14 10 Gnome Thief/Mage Chaotic Neutral Jan loves turnips. Almost literally! And like most gnomes he is very eccentric, and loves to ramble on with stories that never get to the points. He wants to steal Boo from Minsc, and if he ever succeeded, one would imagine he wouldn't live long after that. Found at: Government District (near the Government offices) Event: 15 days after joining, Jan is summoned back home. This event is covered below. Grade: B+ My favorite Thief/Illusionist in the game! The only Thief/ Illusionist in the game! Unlike the other thief/mages he is a multi-class rather than a dual class, which is both a good and a bad thing. He keeps improving his thief skills, but gains levels slower. Plus he can make his own ammunition for his crossbow. Viconia 10 19 8 16 18 14 Drow Elf Cleric Neutral Evil Viconia DeVir was forced out of the Underdark and has been living as an exile on the surface ever since. She journeyed with you in your earlier adventures. Fount at: Government District (near the prison) If kicked out: Viconia goes to the Graveyard Grade: B+ Personally I think she is the best Cleric in the game. Start with a great Dexterity and Wisdom and you have a great character. Give her the Gauntlets of Ogre Strength (or a similar Strength enhancing item) and she moves up to an A grade. Also, the Girdle of Fortitude can be used to improve her lowly constitution for 8 hours a day. (The Gauntlets are part of the Planar Sphere quest, and the Girdle can be found in the Unseeing Eye quest) Quests: ------- QUEST: Jan Jansen Jan - Government District (AR 1000, x 2750 y 1740) You will find Jan in the southeast corner of the government park selling his turnips (and other contraband). Jan will try to sell you some of his patented "Bruiser Mates" (crossbow ammo) when Trax arrives from the government to shut down the poor working gnome. Trax and Jan talk a bit, then Trax asks you what Jan was talking with you about. The easiest way to answer this is to say "the weather", at which point you can get Jan to join up with you. You can also turn in Jan for a small reward (100 gp), and then Jan is thrown in the prison. You can get Jan out for 800 gold (on an interesting side note, you can borrow 200 of that 800 from the Prison Keeper). If you bust Jan out of jail you get 11,500 exp. If you ever pay back that 200 gold you get 2000 experience. 15 days after getting Jan, he will be summoned back home. QUEST: Jan Jansen Summoned Home Jansen Home - Slums (AR 0400, x 3533 y 1350) Jysstev - Government (AR 1000, x 2865 y 2865) The Hidden - Sewers under Coronet (AR 0404, x 1075 y 2230) Fifteen days after joining, a messenger comes up to Jan to tell him to get home right now. Agree to help him with his troubles and then high-tail it back to the Slums and to his house. His lost love, Lissa has returned with her daughter, who is now deathly ill. Jan tells you to talk to his Uncle in the basement. Talk with the uncle to learn that you need to talk to the Hidden. To find the Hidden you must talk to Lady Jysstev in the Government District. (3300 exp) For most of this quest, Jan stays at his house. Go to the government district, and talk with Lady Jysstev about what you need. She tells you that the Hidden will meet with you (despite you not being an "Enlightened One") in the sewer beneath the Copper Coronet. (8900 exp) To the slums! Enter the Copper Coronet, go into the back rooms, and find your way down into the sewers (see the above Quests). You will find the Hidden on the southern end of the little sewer river. Talk to him, but keep things no-nonsense and simple. (He doesn't like to talk to you) You can ask about him, but that won't get you anywhere. He agrees to help the girl if you take care of his enemies for him. To locate his enemies you need to talk to the proprietor of the Sea's Bounty Inn in the Docks district. Talk to him and pass the secret word on to learn that the two you seek are on the second floor of the Five Flagons Inn in the Bridge District. You will find the two Gith in the second room on the right in the second floor of the Five Flagons. They will realize that you are there to harm them and attack immediately. They have both magic and melee attacks, which make them annoying to deal with. Once they are dead, return to the Hidden and talk to him. (17,500 exp) You can ask questions about him and he will reveal that he is a Mind Flayer (Illithid). Return to Jan and the girl will be healed. The plot continues downstairs (15,500 exp). Jan asks your opinion on matters. Agree to support him and he rejoins the team. QUEST: Save Viconia's Life Viconia - Government District (AR 1000, x 1800 y 1075) Dark Elves are not very well looked upon in Faerun (the continent you are on). With the exception of Drizzt all Drow are evil, which doesn't help their reputation as evil killers with no remorse. Even though Viconia is relatively "evil free", she is about to be burned at the stake like a witch. Sure, she's evil, but she doesn't actually ACT on her evilness. Much. To rescue Viconia, you must click on the pile of wood under her twice. That frees her, but angers the mob. You then have to fight off the Fanatics to keep her alive. If you let Viconia join you, you gain the best Cleric in the game, but lose 2 reputation points. Also she has a low strength, however, if you buy the Mauler's Arm at the Copper Coronet that will improve her Strength to the point where she is able to wear any armor. QUEST: Keldorn's Family Troubles Firecam Estate - Government District (AR 1000, x 1550 y 1950) Mithrest Inn - Waukeen's Promenade (AR 0700, x 3000 y 450) When you first enter the Government District with Keldorn in your party he mentions that he maintains an Estate here, and asks if you would like to go see it. From that point you have four days before he complains about it, after that you have three days before he leaves to go home. So, you're better off visiting his home yourself. Within the house, Keldorn talks to his girls (who don't seem to like him) and to his wife (who is cheating on him with Sir William). Keldorn is a little upset by this recent turn of events. He asks you for advice, tell him to confront Sir William over the matter. William is found in the Mithrest Inn in the Promenade. Talk to Sir William, and he will chastise Keldorn for not being there for his family. Now go with Keldorn back to his estates to get some closure on this one. Talk to his wife again, and they will realize they still love each other. Of course, now Keldorn wants to spend some time with her. You get 15,500 experience no matter what you tell him, let him spend a day, force him to go with, or release him from your service forever (however, he is gone for good). If you want to keep him, then force him to stay with you, otherwise you may as well let him go. QUEST: Track Valygar for the Cowled Wizards (Mage Stronghold) Valygar's Home - Docks (AR 0300, x 2450 y 1150) Country Estate - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 1400 y 550) Just outside of the council building is Madeen who has a quest for you. He wants you to go inside and talk to Tolgerias about doing some work for the Cowled Wizards. Go inside and talk to the mage in light green. He wants you to agree to do his quest before he even bothers to tell you what the quest is. Typical. Agree to it anyway. He says that several Cowled Wizards were killed, and he wants you to bring the murderer in for justice. Notice how he seems to want the body one way or the other? The target of your manhunt is Valygar Corthala, and you can find his home in the Docks section of town. Valygar's house is the one just to the left of the Temple of Oghma, enter it. Talk to the servant and pretend to be a friend and he tells you that the "master" owns property in the Umar Hills area. If he doesn't tell you that, you can learn it by searching the house and finding the "Corthala Tax Notice" which says much the same thing. Head out to the Umar Hills. You will find Valygar's home in the top left of the area. He has some goons outside his house. Just tell them that you aren't here to hurt Valygar and they should leave you alone. Enter his house and talk to Valygar. He tells you that he acted is self defense against the Cowled Wizards when he killed two of them. They wanted his body to open up the Planar Sphere, which was created by his ancestor, a Lich named Lavok. Valygar would like to finish Lavok, with your help. Let him join for 9500 experience. (The only real alternative here is to kill Valygar and use his body to open the Sphere, giving him to the Cowled Wizards results in a less than spectacular gain for you) Note: If you tell him to "proceed as he will" he will go to his home in the Docks. Now whenever is convenient, go to the Slums and enter the Planar Sphere (see the Planar Sphere section under the Slums). Trick: Getting 3 Rings of the Ram (modified from Xander77) You get the first Ring by pickpocketing Tolgerias successfully (save first). You pick up the second by killing Valygar and stuffing him in the Bag of Holding. Go to Tolgerias and claim Ring 2 as your reward. However, Valygar didn't disappear from the bag. Go to the Planar Sphere, enter, and play as normal to get number 3. QUEST: Talk to Delon about the Umar Hills (Ranger Stronghold) After a certain set amount of time, Delon will talk to you, so by the time you get here you might have already talked to him. He can appear anywhere. If not, then you can find him in front of the Council building. Talk to him to learn of troubles around the Umar Hills area. This quest is continued in the next section "Umar Hills." OTHER: Bribe the Cowled Wizards Tired of not being able to cast magic in the streets of Athkatla? Well who isn't. Simply enter the Council building and talk to Corneil. He mentions that for a "monetary sacrifice" you and your party will be able to cast magic freely. It costs you 5000 gold. Ouch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.10 [MRHLLS] Umar Hills (AR 1100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- When you first arrive in the Umar Hills area, you get to see a town meeting. Everyone is complaining to the mayor about various goings-on about town. Strange things are going on here. Some people blame their problems on wolves, others on ogres and still others on the elusive Umar Witch (who may be a folk legend). Seems like they could use a hero! Quests: ------- QUEST: Investigate the Deaths in Umar Hills Mayor - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 5000 y 2550) Ranger Cabin - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 600 y 2800) Talk with the mayor to attempt to gain some information about how things are going. He and his wife mention three possible suspects: Wolves, Ogres (see the Ogres and Imnesvale below) and the Umar Witch. You are also told of a good place to start, the old ranger cabin to the west. Go over to the cabin, and enter. Search the floor of the bedroom to find a note from Mazzy that offers some clues. Then search the kitchen table to find Merella's Journal the has some more clues. Both of these items can be left here. Leave the cabin, then leave the area and go to the Temple Ruins. (This is continued in that section) QUEST: The Ogres and Imnesvale Madulf - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 3290 y 720) Mayor - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 5000 y 2550) Just north of town, across the little stream, you will find Madulf the Ogre Mage and his other ogre cronies (some aren't ogres, but whatever). He automatically talks to you. Listen to what he has to say. Turns out his people are getting killed as well and he doesn't know what is doing it. When you try to leave he wants you to tell the village that they mean no harm and merely want to coexist peacefully. Go talk to the mayor about Madulf's request. He is a little reluctant to trust ogres, but agrees to talk with them nonetheless. (27,500 experience) After a period of time, the Mayor returns from talking with them. Then go talk to Madulf again, and as thanks he gives you an item: Shield of the Lost +2 (5% magic resistance) QUEST: Idle Hands in Imnesvale At the north end of town are three youths who want you to buy them either swords, ale, or both. Do what you will here. If you get them anything you will find them in the cave to the west where they get chased out by a gibberling (which they mistake for a dragon). This is not instantaneous, it takes them some time to get into that cave. I got 2000 experience for buying them 3 bastard swords and a thing of Ale. (from the Merchants) You can get 1000 exp for giving them one of the items, and 0 exp for telling them to go away. Note: If your main character is a Ranger, DON'T give these kids anything, as it will negatively impact your stronghold. (such as getting you kicked out of it) [from ShirouKyoji] QUEST: A Mage needs Mimic's Blood Mage - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 4433 y 2060) Umar Cave - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 1600 y 1300) The house just north of the mayor's house belongs to a mage. Outside of his house you will see some fool in love with the mage's daughter. Enter and talk to the mage. Ask him about the thing that he is making and he will ask you to fetch him some Mimic's Blood so that he can complete it. Exit. The cave with the mimic in it is westwards of here. Within you will see what appears to be a chest. It isn't, it is a mimic. Wait a moment and then you can attack it. When it is dead, search it to get its blood. (The rest of the cave has some Umber Hulks and some more minor treasures to be found) Return to the mage and give him the blood (19,250 experience) and he gives you the Short Sword +1, Ilbratha. Of course, then he animates his golem, which goes amok and you have to kill it. Kill the Golem. Then the fool from outside comes in and takes his daughter away, the mage talks to you saying how foolish he was and you get more experience (21,250 exp). OTHER: The Chicken's Gem Jeb - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 3775 y 1550) Erlin - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 3225 y 1900) At the north end of the village talk to the farmer Jeb and tell him that you are an adventurer. Turns out for a little money (20 gold) he has a little adventure for you. He says that he saw the chicken farmer putting something in his chicken. Doesn't know what, but it must be worth something. Go left and talk to the chicken farmer, Erlin. The jig is pretty much up, and you can end out buying whatever is in the chicken. It is a Beljuril, with a rough value of about 600 gold. Tip: Before talking to the farmer, pick the chicken's pocket to get one Beljuril, then buy it again from the farmer to get two! [from Brad Beacham] Don't sell it, however, there is a way to use it to get an upgraded horn. (see Waukeen's Promenade, The Horns of Valhalla quest) OTHER: Fael and the Human Flesh Armor Fael - Umar Hills (AR 1100, x 3500 y 2850) If you solved the murders in the Bridge District you may have ended out with an incomplete set of human flesh armor. There was also a note that told you how to contact the person who was to finish the armor, one Fael who is currently in the Umar Hills area. You'll find him with the other merchants. Talk to him and buy the History of the Zhentarim. Then tell him his name, 5) Darcin Cole and he says that all he needs is one final ingredient, the blood of a silver dragon. You won't find a Silver Dragon for QUITE some time, but you will run into one eventually. Can't miss her. Bring him the blood and he'll finish you the armor (Leather AC 3, magic resistance 20%). Oh, and he'll recognize that you aren't the Tanner and call in some mages to attack you. Therefore this is best done at night when the merchants are indoors and won't get blown to bits by the mages. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.11 [TMPLRN] Temple Ruins (AR 1404) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Companions: ----------- Mazzy 15 18 16 10 13 14 Halfling Fighter Lawful Good Mazzy is not your typical halfling. For starters, she's not a thief of any sort. Plus she's lawful good, heroic and no-nonsense. Very atypical for halflings. Found at: Temple Ruins (follow the Umar Hills quest from Delon at the Government District) Warning: If you're dropping someone off here to add Mazzy to the party, *don't* leave them topside at the Temple Ruins. Destroying the Shade Lord swaps the daylit version of the area for the shadowed version, and anyone in the shadowed version is just gone. (I lost Nalia that way - after her kidnapping, she doesn't go back to the Copper Coronet when kicked out). [from Alan Cherry] Event: Some good deal of time after Mazzy has joined your party, Danno will come up to you with Mazzy's quest. This is covered down in the Trademeet section. If you kick Mazzy out then have her rejoin this timer is restarted. If kicked out: Mazzy will return home to Trademeet Grade: B- A good Halfling fighter, but... in all actuality she is closer to a Halfling Paladin. She has several special abilities such as Lay on Hands and Haste. Walkthrough: ------------ - FIND SIGNS OF WOLF ACTIVITY If you're here, then there's only one thing to do, find out what is killing people back at Umar Hills and put a stop to it. Based on the evidence at hand we believe that there are wolves involved. Werewolves in all likelihood. Go right a little, then up to find a Werewolf, Anath, flee into her lair. Follow her in. (x 600 y 600) Tell her that she has preyed on her last innocent and she won't know what you are talking about. Seems that someone called the "Shade Lord" has been doing all the killing, including killing her entire pack! Agree to help her take down this Shade Lord menace and she says to meet her far to the right at the Temple Ruins. - THE TEMPLE RUINS (AR 1401) You will find her far to the right (x 4420 y 320) at what remains of the temple. There are many shadows and shadow deviant creatures crawling about here. She tells you that this was a trap, and to use the mirror. Then she dies. You can find the mirror she was talking about just to her left, and it is used by clicking it when close. When that is done several new shadows appear and attack, but they shouldn't present a challenge. Go down the stairs and enter the ruins. There is one door on this passage, open it and go through. Fight through the Shadows and Skeletons. Search the coffin (x 1850 y 650) to find the skeletal remains of the last priestess of Amaunator. Naturally this will be very important later. Continue up to the next room where you will fight the Shadow Jailor. Search his remains for the Shadow Jail Key. And conveniently there are some locked doors right here. Open them to find Mazzy the Halfling Fighter. Talk to her to learn all you can about the Shade Lord. She tells you that he has a tame Shadow Dragon with him. She will also join with you to defeat the Shade Lord if you want. (12,250 exp) Also in her cell you can find some treasure (nothing great, just a journal piece and some ammo). Note: The journal piece is actually part of the Ranger stronghold. See the STRONGHOLD walkthroughs for more information. Continue upwards to find the really big statue (x 900 y 200). Talk to it. There are three tests for you to take here, a morning test, noon test and evening test. Here are the answers to the tests: Morning: 2, 3, 1 Noon: 3, 1, 1 Evening: 1, 3, 2 When that is finished it gives you one third of the symbol of Amaunator. (45,500 experience) We actually don't learn what these rituals are until a little later, but we're here already. Head down the passage (x 580 y 540), it turns east to a room with a big crystal in it. If Mazzy is with you, she'll explain the significance of the crystal. You need to take it to pass onwards in the temple, but when you do take it, the shadows will attack you. Take the crystal. (x 760 y 1260) Go north into the next room. If you are curious about how to learn the Morn Ritual the actual way, search the column to get a scroll on it. If not, then continue north and from there back to the main passage. - COMPLETE THE SYMBOL OF AMAUNATOR Now go south down the main passage to the Shadow Door, which will be dispelled when you click on it with the Light Gem in your possession. Head south just a little until you see the wooden bridge extending from the right. (x 1400 y 1300) Shadows will appear in your midst when you cross this bridge. The next room has lava for a floor, so don't spend too much time lingering around. Search the ground (2 broken columns) to find some treasure: Pearly White Ioun Stone (Regenerative) Arrows of Ice (etc.) On the northern wall is a symbol of a Chinese dragon, which is trapped and has some minor treasures (x 2240 y 1320). In the next room to the north are Bone Golems (18,000 exp), Greater Mummies and Skeletal Warriors (some with bows). You could always lead them across the lava floor to damage them. (You can hug the wall to avoid damage, they will make a beeline for you and go across the lava) Search the column here to find more Amaunator items (Books and scrolls), these aren't that important. Note: If you are on a high level, do NOT have the "Turn Undead" ability on here, else you will kill the good ghosts in the next room. (David Lyons) Also, using the "Protection from Undead" scroll seems to have the effect of making the "good" ghosts ignore you as well. Sure, they talk to you, but they won't give you the wardstone and symbol piece. From the lava room, go south and enter the next room. When you enter, a ghost of one of the priests talks to you and asks for the bones of the priestess that you possess. Give them to them to restore her. For this you get the second symbol of Amaunator and 17,750 experience. Also you get the Shadow Dragon wardstone to prevent the Shadow Dragon from attacking you. We now have 2 of 3 symbols. You can search her coffin for some minor treasures (including the best Bullets in the game). Continue south. This leads back to the main passage, but we've now skipped one of the shadow doors. Sweet. Go right. At the first northern fork (x 1840 y 2260) are a large group of undead, with more Bone Golems. Kill them and go north. This is an interesting chamber. Remember Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where they had to walk only on the letters that spelled "Jehovah" in Latin? Well similar idea, you can only step on the letters in Amaunator's name. Start at the bottom right at the A and end out at the top middle at the R. Simply step from one letter in the name to the next. (if you step on an incorrect letter, you get hit with flame) A - M - A - U - N - A - T - O - R There are two doors here that lead to two rooms (that follows). Go in the right one, open the door, to find a Shadow who wants to bargain with you. (x 2750 y 1740) You will end out fighting him either way. Then search the walls of the room for the final piece of the Symbol. Once you have all three pieces, they fuse into the Symbol (21,250 exp). - FIND AND DEFEAT THE SHADE LORD Enter the left room and take the items from the Statues hands (x 2615 y 1620). These include some spells, a sling, but more importantly the Sun Gem which will allow us to dispel the final Shadow Door. Return to the main passage. (remembering to step on the correct letters, of course, which in this case is R O T A N U A M A) Follow this passage right, through the shadow door, and up to a normal door, which opens to a stairway. Go down the stairs. This is the lair of the Shadow Dragon. This is the easiest dragon in the game to fight, and is definitely the first one you should try to kill (without using the Fake Talk, anyway). Array out a series of traps in front of it, cast all your protective spells (Mazzy has some too!) and fight it. Cast Breach on it quickly as it will get protective spells of its own up. Thaxll'ssyllia - 45,000 experience Shadow Dragon Scales Crom Faeyr Scroll (one of the 4 parts of Crom Faeyr) Gems (and gold) If you have the wardstone you do not have to attack the dragon (and it makes attacking the dragon a LOT easier!). Go left and up the next stairs to the Shade Lord. The Shade Lord will taunt you for awhile (especially if you have Mazzy in your party) and then battle will break out. Take out the Shade Lord first as he is the only real threat here (seriously). Then you can take out Patrick and the Statue at your leisure. When that happens everyone gets 44,250 quest experience points and the area will be restored to a more sunny clime. If Mazzy is around she wonders what it all means, and you can make the place a memorial to her fallen comrades. After that talk to the near dead Merella. When she is dead, search her for treasure: Cloak of Stars (creates +5 darts) Rogue Stone (useful for a certain Door in the Bridge area) Gem 4000 gold Also search Patrick's corpse for more treasure: Halberd +2 Duskblade Darkmail +3 Return to Umar Hills and talk to the mayor again to get your reward: The Night's Gift +5 (Leather Armor, +20% stealth) 28,000 experience 100 gold Reputation +1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.12 [TMPLDS] Temple District (AR 0900) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quests: ------- QUEST: The Cult of the Unseeing Eye (Priest's Stronghold) Cultist - Temple District (AR 0900, x 3250 y 1750) This Quest is the only method to obtain the Paladin Keldorn for your party. As you walk down the path for the first time, a group of people is listening to an unconventional speaker. He tells them that the gods are false, and that only his new religion has the answers. A great many of the people follow him. Then a Priest (if you are a Cleric of Lathander it will be a Lathander Priest, etc.; if you are not a priest then it will be a Priest of Helm) approaches you and asks that you follow him to his temple. Once there he asks that you investigate this cult to see what it is up to. The cult is based in the sewers and this Quest will be continued in that section. If you wish to pick up Keldorn (the Paladin) into your party, then the best entrance to the sewers is at (x 3950 y 2150). QUEST: Gain the Services of Sir Sarles for the Temple Jystev Estate - Government District (AR 1000, x 2875 y 2855) Jerlia - Waukeen's Promenade (AR 0700, x 733 y 2200) Neb's House - Bridge (AR 0500, x 500 y 2550) If you are a Cleric, you will be gaining the services of Sir Sarles for the temple you are employed by, otherwise you are working for Guardian Telwyn at the Temple of Helm. What happens is that every temple in the city wants this artist to create a work of art for their temple, but Sarles will only work if he is given Illithium to work in. Sir Sarles is in the Jysstev Estate in the Government District. Go inside and talk to the Butler of the house and ask about Sir Sarles. You can talk to the Lord and Lady as well. You will find Sarles in the kitchen. Talk to him and he will refuse to work with anything less than pure Illithium, which can only be obtained from Jerlia in Waukeen's Promenade. Wander over that way, and you will find Jerlia on the southwestern portion of the promenade (check your map for "ore merchant"). Jerlia doesn't have 200 pounds of Illithium. In fact, that is pretty well impossible for her to attain. She has two ideas for you to try: Go to her source and try to get some for yourself (you have to pay 1000 gold to get her source), or she'll give you an "Illithium Substitute". We're going to do the expensive one. Pay the gold to learn that her source is a Duergar named Unger who is currently in the Copper Coronet. (You COULD try the Substitute. Pay her 200 gold to get her to make an alloy to fool Sarles. She leaves and promises to return in a day with the alloy. Come back 24 hours later and she'll have raised her price to 500 gold. Pay it and get the Alloy. However, if you try to give this to Sarles he will get really angry and leave.) Go to the Slums, and into the Copper Coronet. You'll find Unger near the bar. (x 300 y 1400) Talk to him. Tell him that Jerlia sent you. Talk to him about Illithium and he'll mention that he has none, as he was robbed by someone who worked for him. Agree to help him get rid of this bandit. He then tells you the name of the bandit, Neb, and says to look for a Derelict House in the Bridge District. So, that's where we're going. Enter the Derelict House (located in the southern part of the bridge). Inside is Neb, the Child Killer from Baldur's Gate. He will pretty much attack you no matter what you say. He also summons the spirits of the children he has killed to defend him. Ignore the spirit children, and concentrate on Neb. You'll find him invisible hiding (and chuckling) behind the counter. Once he is dead you get 2500 experience for each child spirit still alive. Neb - 3500 experience Neb's Nasty Cutter (weak dagger) Neb's Head Illithium (200 pounds) Note: Another one of those profitable ventures is Neb's nasty cutter. You can sell it to a merchant in Trademeet for a very high price and he sells it back for cheap. [from James Victor] There are some small treasures around the house, including some on the TRAPPED painting. I bet you are wondering what to do with a HEAD. Well take it to Inspector Bregg (Council Building in the Government District) to get a reward: 2500 gold Reputation +1 We now have both the Illithium and the Alloy. Return to the Jystev Estate to talk with Sarles again. If you even HAVE the Pure Illithium in your inventory he will automatically take that (21,750 experience). If you try to fob him off with the Alloy, he won't take it and will leave town. Return to the temple to get your reward. If Sarles skipped town, the temple will take your Alloy and give you 10,000 experience and the Helm of Glory. If you got the real Illithium to Sarles you get your 1000 gold back and another 20,000 experience (yes, and the Helm of Glory as well.) Why would you want to keep the Illithium? It is one of the pieces to make the upgraded Mace of Disruption. It's up to you whether to do that, however. If you are a Cleric, you will be given an additional reward. You get to pick from these three items: Ring of Holiness (1 extra spell for spell levels 1-4) Armor of Faith (AC 1, +1 to saving throws) Staff Spear (1d8+3) QUEST: Another Mission for the Temple Travin - Slums (AR 0400, x 1525 y 770) Borinall's House - Slums (AR 0400, x 2250 y 1600) This mission can only be done after you have finished the Sarles quest. I am pretty sure this is also only done if you are not a Cleric (as they would have this as part of their Stronghold). Talk to Telwyn to get another assignment, this time to go talk with the Dawnbringer Sain at the Temple of Lathander. Sain tells you that one of their artifacts was stolen by thieves working for the Temple of Talos. What he wants you to do is to intercept this ring before the Talassians get it. The exchange will happen in the Slums, he says, so go there. Wait until after dark, and look for Travin. He will be standing near the northern exit from the Slums. Talk to him. Simply ask him if his name is Travin and he'll talk to you. He will want money from you, but threaten him instead and you won't have to pay. He then tells you where you need to go to get the item, a red bricked house on top of the Copper Coronet (Borinall's House). Enter the locked house and Borinall will talk to you. He has the Ring but wants to make sure that you are followers of Talos. He wants you to swear allegiance to Talos. If you do that, however, you will be magically attacked by the god, and pretty well revealed anyway. So refuse to do it and attack Borinall instead. He has some goons with him, but nothing difficult. Search Borinall afterwards to get the Dawn Ring. There are some other minor treasures in here (such as a War Hammer +1 and some gold). (notably, if you are a Priest of Talos, you can pass his test and easily get the ring) Return the Ring to Dawnmaster Sain to get your reward: 16,250 experience and 1000 gold. QUEST: Hunt Anarg for the Order of the Radiant Heart Radiant Heart - Temple (AR 0900, x 3300 y 3375) Fallen Paladins - Bridge (AR 0400, x 4800 y 750) In order to even get this quest you must have a reputation of at least 10. Enter the Order of the Radiant Heart and talk to Sir Ryan Trawl. He has a Quest for you, to hunt the fallen Paladin Anarg, who has apparently stolen out some members of the Order and formed an evil group. You must pose as warriors to gain their trust, and try to bring Anarg to justice. Anarg's group is found in the Bridge District. Head over to the Bridge District, and go into the open area in the top right of the area. Here you will find the group of fallen paladins. They are meeting with a group of thieves, and the meeting soon turns violent. You can join the battle against the thieves, if you want, but it isn't necessary. The leader of the Fallen Paladins will approach you after the battle and offer you a job. He wants you to go retrieve Anarg's Cup from the Order. Agree to this, and head back to the Temple District to get it. Talk to Ryan Trawl again and ask him for the cup. He is a little reluctant to give it to you, but he will, if you promise to return it. Return to the Fallen Paladins. Give the head paladin the cup (10,250 experience) and he introduces you to Anarg. I am pretty sure that Anarg will always recognize you as what you are and attacks. (If you have Keldorn in your party, he definitely attacks) Alternatively: [from Nathaniel Ragatz] If you cast "know alignment" on the fallen paladins in the bridge district they all detect as neutral except for the 2nd in command, who you talk to in order to try to join them. He detected as good and when I returned with the Cup (from the Order of the Radiant Heart) I told him I had the cup to make the leader (also detected as neutral) to appear. I then said that I didn't want to join their group after all. The leader (and most of the fallen paladins) decides to attack you because you know too much about them. However, the good 2nd in command says that the leader isn't the knight he thought he was (because he is attacking you without just cause) and walks away disgusted with his fallen brethren. They still attack you but not him. Return to Ryan Trawl to get your reward: 17,500 experience each player, Reputation +1 and the Gloves of Healing. OTHER: The Guarded Compound Compound - Temple District (AR 0900, x 4200 y 2050) Within the Guarded Compound are a wizard and a thief, who tell you to shoo, or face a private lesson. Ask for that lesson and they disappear. When you reach the end of this hallway, you will be attacked by many summoned creatures, including (but not limited to), Efreet, Nishruu, Vampiric Mists, and Ogres. The treasures in the rooms on this level are for the most part minor. There is a Morning Star +2 though. Go up the stairs. You now have one of the more annoying battles in the game. You have to find a very tough party of adventurers (that is what I'm assuming they are) that include Minotaurs and Orogs. Not ordinary enemies by any count. To add to the mix, your party will be surrounded by some devious traps that need to be disarmed. Keep the mage and priest out of the battle, then just whack everyone else until they fall. Search them afterwards for some really great treasure: Celestial Fury (Katana +3, best Katana in the game) Helmet of Defense Battle Axe +2 Large Shield +2 Two Handed Sword +2 Leather Armor +3 Short Sword +2 Helm of Charm Protection Full Plate +1 Plate Mail +1 Mace +2 Lots of Gold Lots of Potions (unless they used them in battle) With them out of the picture, the rest of the level is quite open to be looted by you. (Spears, Wands, gold, arrows, etc.) A large number of the containers here are trapped, so be careful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.13 [THSWRS] The Sewers (AR 0701) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Companions: ----------- Haer'Dalis 17 17 9 15 13 16 Tiefling Blade Chaotic Neutral Haer'Dalis is not from around here. In fact he isn't even from this plane of existence! He is a Tiefling, born with part demon blood. It gives him an odd appearance and an even stranger attitude about life. Found at: Sewers (follow the Raelis Quest from the Five Flagons) If kicked out: Haer'Dalis will go to the main floor of the Five Flagons. Grade: D+ The ONLY Bard in the game, and he happens to be lacking the one thing that makes Bards extra special, their Lore ability. That said, he makes a great warrior, for a Bard. But if I wanted a warrior, I'd take a warrior Keldorn 17 9 17 12 16 18 Human Paladin Lawful Good Keldorn is a dedicated man. So dedicated that he goes months without seeing his family. This will lead to conflict, and may cause Keldorn to leave your party forever. Found at: Temple District Sewers (MUST start the Unseeing Eye quest first), near the Old Tunnels Grade: B+ The only Paladin in the game. If you want a Paladin this is the way to go. He starts out with decent armor and an interesting sword (if he is hit, it deals 5 damage to what hit him). As an Inquisitor gets immunity to Charm and Hold, which is very useful, and his Dispel Magic is very powerful. Quests: ------- QUEST: The Cult of the Unseeing Eye Entrance to Old Tunnels - Sewers (AR 0701, x 150 y 450) Gaal - Old Tunnels (AR 0202, x 2500 y 2150) Door - Old Tunnels (AR 0202, x 2780 y 500) The Cult is hiding in the Old Tunnels, which are in the top left of this area. You will also find Keldorn near this place. Enter the Old Tunnels. Go down the side passage (x 3400 y 300) and follow that into a room. There are Shadows here. When you get to the end of this room Ettercaps will appear in it. Past this room is another large room, with wooden planks as flooring. More Shadows in here. There is also a trap at the entrance. After that is another long and dark passage that leads to the Gas Chamber. When you reach the center of the room, the doors slam shut and it fills with Gas (roughly a Cloudkill). Turn the wheel in the center to get the Gas to stop and the doors to open. You also have to fight off some Vampiric Mists. Go into the next room and talk to Gaal the Prophet. Ask about how one might join up with the Unseeing Eye, and mention that putting your own eyes out makes you uncomfortable. He agrees to let you try a different quest, to go get them an item from the sealed off sections of the old tunnels. He gives you a key to accomplish this action. Go back to the main tunnel, and then down this to the door. Open it and go through. Be very careful to check for traps on the floor. Very soon you will come up to a Sarcophagus room and meet a man named Sassar. He was a member of the cult until he realized just how evil the Unseeing Eye Beholder really was. Now he wants to retrieve the Rod himself to destroy the beholder. Agree to his ideas. This is the sarcophagus of the Shade Lich, part of the Kangaxx quest (which you can read about in the Docks section). Head down the southern passage (careful to look for Lightning Traps). This passage leads to a set of stairs that go down. (AR 0204) This area looks rather impressive, with giant blue arches. You can search the nose of the statue (trapped) for a spell scroll. Go forward, then right. This leads to a Yuan-ti gathering and a strange building. De-trap the stairs and go up the building. When you are on it, click on its roof and you will have to answer its set of questions. If you fail any of its questions, it sends a monster to kill you. Question 1: 7) Life Question 2: 9) Time Question 3: 4) The Current One Solve that to get 42,250 experience. Across the bridge are quite a large number of enemies, such as the mini-beholders (Gauth) and Shadow Fiends. There is a nook (x 3715 y 2485) with some treasure: War Hammer +2 (+1 Electrical Damage) minor treasure Take the north passage. Just before it opens up into a large watery room there is a TRAP. There are many "diseased" people around here, but only the one in the center says anything valuable. Enter the temple behind him. Here you will find the dastardly Empathic Manifestation. No matter how many times you hit it, you cannot kill it. Cast "Cure Light Wounds" on it and it will die. (He feeds on Hate, so give him a little "lovin'") After that the Avatar appears. (25,750 exp) Talk with him and soon a plan will be developed between him and you. You will take his piece of the Rod up to the beholder to destroy the beholder with, then you bring the two assembled pieces back to the Avatar so that he can destroy it. He gives you his piece and tells you to talk to his people outside the temple. Return to Sassar (the former high priest of the Unseeing Eye) and he has a plan to get the other half of the device. Talk to Tad within the cult and he will help you get it. Do not talk to Gaal or your plan is doomed! Go to the Unseeing Eye. Past the guards, turn left to find Tad, who will automatically talk to you. Tell him the code phrase ('the eye is blind'). Go down into the pit. (AR 201) Ever wonder what a lone Beholder's lair looked like? Well now you know. There will be monsters down here (I fought Mummies and Ghasts). Follow this passage. Go up the stairs and a zombie will say "must go tell the mayor" and wander off. Odd. There will also be more undead here to fight. Go inside the large building just ahead of you. There are lots and lots of undead here. They have a city of sorts. Kill them all, then search them for treasure: Skin of the Ghoul (Leather Armor, AC 4) Search the bone pile (x 575 y 475) in the next room to find: Gauntlets of Dexterity Spells - Dire Charm (Mage) Leave this building, and continue right on the bridge. There will be more monsters, of course. Continue right and enter the Lair. (AR 205) Searching in the first room, you will find some minor treasures, but no piece of a Rod. Continue upwards. There will be a Gauth when you round the bend. The Beholder Lair is shaped like a Beholder. It has a large central body, and 4 eye shoots. You came in through one "eye shoot", and at each of the three others there is another thing of treasure guarded by a Gauth or a Beholder. In the center of this area are a group of cultists. The top eye shoot (x 2000 y 300) has: Dragons Bane +3 (Halberd, +6 vs. Dragons) Spells - Protection from Acid (Mage) Gems, etc. The far right eye shoot (x 3050 y 1500) has: Rift Device Part (the final Rod piece) Gold * From this point, there is an ALTERNATIVE path you can take, see Lucas's note below. The other eye shoot has but gems and such in it. When you get the Rift Device Part it becomes a wand with one charge. The game recommends that you equip this in your Quick Item slot. (26,250 exp) As soon as you move from this spot, you will be attacked by the Unseeing Eye. Use the Rift Device to remove his protections, then hit him once to kill him. Unseeing Eye - 30,000 experience Amulet of 5% Magic Resistance Just to the left (x 1860 y 2120) you will find the exit. This puts us right near the stairs down to the Avatar's area. (so that we can return the Rift Device to him) Go back to the Temple and let things unfold there. Once inside you have to convince the people to accept their god and he will appear. They all vanish and you get your reward: 47,250 experience Saving Grace +3 (Medium Shield) Return to the Cult. There you will see Gaal trying to keep everyone within the cult. He naturally blames you and his forces attack. Kill them, then search them for treasure: Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy Bracers AC 7 Girdle of Fortitude With him out of the picture, the other Cultists leave. You can then loot the entire place. It mostly has Gems, Arrows and Spells. Return to the Temple of Helm (or Lathander ...) to get your reward for clearing this out: 45,750 Experience (everyone gets that amount) Mace +1: Ardulia's Fall 7000 gold Reputation +1 And, of course, if you are a Priest this will then lead you to your Stronghold. (see the Strongholds section at the end of the walkthrough) Lucas has an alternative method to handle the above quest: After you talk to the Avatar and get the first half of the rift device, go and talk to Tad. You'll give him the pass phrase 'the eye is blind' and he'll open up the entrance to the pit. Now, go and talk to Gaal. You'll get the XP for bringing him the rod, and then you can waste him, and get his goods. Now go back to where Tad was and go down into the undead city, complete that area and onto the beholder's lair. Do everything normally and go pick up the other half of the rod. You'll get 26,250 for assembling the rod, and the Unseeing Eye will appear. Grease that sucker with the rift device and head back to the Avatar's temple via Sassar's area. Get down to the Avatar and present him with the rod. Now, go back to the cultist's living quarters. Every enemy will go off running and disappear, but the unseeing eye will be there. This is where you summon up what you can (fire elementals if possible) and take out the Unseeing Eye all over again. Get 30,000 more XP and another amulet. Life is good! Editor's Note: This Alternative doesn't seem to work with Throne of Bhaal, that is, the second Unseeing Eye doesn't appear. QUEST: The Windspear Key (AR 0711) Secret Door - Sewers (AR 0701, x 1865 y 440) That key you got off Tazok in Firkraag's dungeon opens a secret door down in the sewers. Enter the sewers and go to the most northern point. The right secret door is the one we want. As you move down this passage, several of your party members will be paralyzed by psychic vibrations. There are also many dead adventurers littering the passage. Looks bad, eh? Go up the stairs here. This leads to a circular chamber. There is a door to the far left. Open it and you will find another circle room with a Mind Flayer, Umber Hulk and lots of dire charmed enemies. (with such generic names as "Fighter" or "Cleric") The best strategy is to sneak up to the room until 2 or 3 enemies see you, draw them back to the previous room and kill them. Then save it and rush the Mind Flayer and hope that it doesn't instant kill you. (9000 exp) I find that using some protective spells works great. (Protection from Evil, Haste, Chaotic Commands, Improved Invisibility and Death Ward) Open the door, go through the passage, and open the next door. Here is a far worse battle with 5 mind flayers (some are Ulitharids which is a tougher type of Flayer) and an Umber Hulk. Take them out (rest and save), then open the north door, go through the passage to find the rest of the Flayers (about 8, and 2 or 3 Umber Hulks). There is a Mind Flayer Lich here (called an Alhoon) who was forming an army. Search the center cauldron for some treasure: Wand of Wonder (random effects) Hammer of Thunderbolts +3 (part of the Crom Faeyr) Spells - Shocking Grasp (Mage) QUEST: Rescue Haer'Dalis from the Mage (see the Bridge district for details on this quest) QUEST: Roger the Fence and the Troll Roger - Sewers (AR 0701, x 1680 y 2300) Troll - Sewers (AR 0701, x 160 y 2550) In the southern tunnels you will find an odd fellow named Roger the Fence. He is there mainly to sell goods (as well as to buy the crap you get). But he also has a problem. (3,1,1,1) He came down here to avoid the guard, but he has been having trouble with "the beasties." Agree to take care of his problem, for a little gold, of course. Then head left along the southern tunnels. Follow the first tunnel you find to get to the Sea Troll. Kill it (it has more HP than its experience value would let on) and return to Roger for a reward: 500 gold and 9500 exp. (don't try to trick him) OTHER: Tarnor the Hatchetman's Mercenaries Mercenaries - Sewers (AR 0701, x 1700 y 460) At the top of the sewers you will confront Tarnor and his merry band of bandits. They'll let you go for 1000 gold, or you get yourself into a big old fight. The "fake talk" works great here, but any strategy is fine. I'd put an insect swarm on their mage to prevent him from casting spells. Then search them afterwards for treasure: Plate Mail +1 Full Plate +1 Full Plate Mail Helmet of Charm Protection Wyvern's Tail +2 (Morningstar) Small Shield +2 Hangard's Throwing Axe +2 Gems, Potions and Gold OTHER: Rakshasa Rakshasa - Sewers (AR 0701, x 1600 y 1600) In the very center of this area you will find a horde of kobolds and their Rakshasa master. This isn't a tough fight, especially when compared to the mercenary battle, but it does yield a pretty good item: Cloak of the Sewers (AC +1, can be worn with other magic items) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.14 [THDCKS] The Docks (AR 0300) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yoshimo Exposition: ------------------- When Yoshimo first comes with you to the Docks he explains that this is Shadow Thief territory and that he needs to go see Renal Bloodscalp to settle things between them. Companions: ----------- Edwin 10 10 16 18 10 10 Human Mage Lawful Evil Edwin was with you on your last adventures, and he and Minsc don't like each other in the least. Edwin had wanted to kill Minsc's witch, Dynaheir, and now that she is dead, Edwin won't leave Minsc alone about it. Edwin gets the most spells of any mage, +3 for every level (1 from his Conjurer bonus, and 2 from his non-removable amulet). Found at: Shadow Thieves Guild (talk to Renal Bloodscalp) Grade: B+ What his stats don't tell you is that Edwin gets bonus spells making him the best mage in the game. The downside is that he is weak as a kitten and has so very little HP. And the other wrinkle is that he is Evil making him hard to fit in a good party. Quests: ------- QUEST: Take the Body of Renfield to Rylock Rylock - Docks near Galvarey Estate (AR 0300, x 1440 y 2950) The second of the Between Area events dumped the body of Renfield in your possession, and it is here that we can get rid of it. You will find Rylock standing near the large building in the SW corner of the map. You will get: 14,550 exp and 125 gold. This leads us to the next quest... QUEST: Rescue Montaron from the Harpers Xzar - Steps near the Sea Inn (AR 0300, x 2370 y 2475) Harper Base - Docks (AR 0300, x 1320 y 2930) Prebek's House - Docks (AR 0300, x 1860 y 1260) Once you have delivered Rylcok and gotten your "reward", go right and you will find Xzar (a Necromancer who joined you in the previous game). He wants you to rescue his friend, Montaron (who also joined you in the previous game) from the Harpers (a group of "do-gooders", of which Jaheira is a member). Agree to his odd demand, but you might want a reward for doing something so dangerous. Warning: If you refuse Xzar's request you cut off any future Harper Plots for Jaheira as well as any romance potential with her. Go back and talk to Rylock. Ask him to see inside and tell him because you always wanted to see a Harper. (this is a lot easier with Jaheira in the party as she is a Harper herself) He doesn't trust you, and to earn his trust you have to do a Quest for him (but of course). He wants you to get rid of a "vile" mage named Prebek, whose house is directly to the north. Agree to this, although Yoshimo "smells a rat." Head north to Prebek's house (it's marked on the map). When you enter you might notice that this is not some great Archmage. Seems the Harpers didn't tell you the WHOLE truth. Kill them, then loot the house. There are three containers here with good spells (Invisible Stalker, Fire Elemental, Resist Fear, Horror, etc., for instance), however everything here is TRAPPED. Go back to Rylock to get 14,500 experience and gain admittance to the Harper's base. There are three Harpers in this main hallway, talk to them if you wish, although they won't be very forthcoming with the information. If you ask Berinvar about his Necklace, Jaheira will be very curious as to why Harper's would wear such things... how odd. There are 4 rooms to the right, the entrance to which is in the south. There are all manner of treasures to be found here, spells gold and potions. The Eye Painting is both TRAPPED and LOCKED and has a Helm of Charm Protection. In the northern room on the table you will find your own Harper Amulet (x 1000 y 300). How convenient! Put the Amulet on and go upstairs. Here you will meet up with some Spectral Harpists. Since you are wearing the Amulet they will answer most any of your questions. You can ask them about Montaron (thief), but they answer in riddles. Search the bookshelves here for some treasures (the spell Phantom Blade is most useful). Open the door to the southern room (x 760 y 1030) and then the next door as well. Search the desk here (x 710 y 1200) to find the Note. Read it. Well that explains Montaron. Open the northern door (x 915 y 530) to find the Giant Bird Cage. Open the door to the cage, and send someone inside, as far north as they can go. You will notice that the mouse cursor makes as though you can grab something in here, do so and you will catch a bird (20,000 exp). Return to Xzar and give him the Bird (Montaron). He mentions that someone broke into his laboratory and killed his apprenti. Hmmm... Anyway he turns Montaron back into human form. But it wasn't really Montaron, it was Lucette, an assassin meant to kill Xzar for spying on the Harpers for the Zhentarim. In other words, the Harpers used you to get back at Xzar. You killed his apprenti, you were allowed to see what they needed you to see, and you delivered the assassin right to him. You will want to search Xzar for treasure (Staff Spear, Spells, Gems, Bracers, etc.). Also, if you go back into the Harper's and search the second floor, you will find Montaron's body in a chest. This is worth 20,000 experience. After that Jaheira is summoned to the Harpers by Meronia.... (if you are in a romance with Jaheira, Meronia may take longer to show up) QUEST: Summoned before the Harpers When Jaheira returns she tells you that the Harpers want to meet with you. Head back to the Harpers place and go inside. If you are in a "relationship" with Jaheira, then Meronia won't show up immediately after Xzar. Trick: Although "fake talk" doesn't work in here (Galvarey has to talk to you before he can die), you can use the spell Silence in a similar manner. (Gareth Embrey) You will then be questioned by Galvarey. No matter what you say to him in answer to his questions, he sees what he wants to see. Soon it becomes obvious that he means you harm. Jaheira decides to break with the Harpers and help you out (quite the lifestyle change!). You will then be forced into a deadly conflict with Galvarey and his Harper Goons. Once they're dead, be sure to check them for treasures. Some of which are: Ring of Wizardry Two Handed Sword +1 Plate Mail +1 Cloak of Protection +1 And that is that for the Harpers within Athkatla. QUEST: Revianne & Dermin the Harpers This doesn't necessarily happen in the Docks as Dermin will track Jaheira down, but this only happens if you do the previous Quest (killing Galvarey). Four days after the events in the Harper's Hold, Revianne appears and wants to fight you. Handle this how you will. (Oddly, she didn't show up the first time through the game, but did the second) About a week after the events in the Harper's Hold, Dermin appears and tells Jaheira that he has been sent to kill her. She doesn't want to fight him as he was her friend. Instead they talk things through and she renounces her standing as a Harper. Dermin leaves for now. Then later he returns and says that Jaheira's death has been arranged unless she goes with him. If she does that then you will be spared. She agrees to think about it, no more. Dermin leaves again. QUEST: Jaheira Leaves the Party (again) Harper Base - Docks (AR 0300, x 1320 y 2930) The next time you sleep, Jaheira will have left the party. Soon a strange Mage arrives and gives you a note explaining why she has left. She didn't want to burden you with her problems with the Harpers. She has gone to Harper Hold in Athkatla and wants you to NOT follow her. Return to the Harper Hold. Inside you must deal with a group of mercenaries. Go upstairs and you will find Jaheira. She is surprisingly happy to see you. She doesn't believe that the Harper's here are Harper's any more. As evidence she points to the disappearance of the Spectral Harpers. Jaheira joins with you again, but a new group of Mercenaries (a much tougher group) appears downstairs waiting for you. These mercenaries are more annoying having a Mage and a Cleric with them. Be sure to check them for treasure when they are dead. QUEST: Jaheira & Dermin Finale Again this quest can take place anywhere. About two weeks or so after you have finished getting Jaheira out of the Harper Hold, Dermin will appear with several goons. Jaheira and him have it out with a war of words first, then the actual battle begins. Dermin - 5000 exp Amulet of Protection +1 Bracers AC 5 Other minor treasures Also be sure to check out his goons for more minor treasures. After the battle Jaheira is quite a bit upset about this recent turn of events. QUEST: Terminsel the Harper A long, long time (Real Time, so you can't just Rest to get this) after this last event, Terminsel appears and asks Jaheira if what she did was right. Did she feel that following you, a child of Bhaal, was the right thing to do in that situation. She says, "yes" and Terminsel gives her the Harper Pin, a nifty little amulet with some special powers. This requires that you have at least a 15 reputation. Also, if you and Jaheira are in a romance, and your reputation is at least 10, then your main character will also be given a whopping 100,000 experience. Oh, and Terminsel? His name is an anagram for... Elminster. Impatient? Force Terminsel to show up via cheating: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("TerminselSpawn","GLOBAL",5) CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("jatermin") QUEST: Renal Bloodscalp, the Shadow Thief (Thieves Stronghold) Renal's Entrance - Docks (AR 0300, x 900 y 1200) Mae'Var's Guild - Docks (AR 0300, x 3050 y 2500) Rayic Gethras - Docks (AR 0300, x 1515 y 2222) Enter the Shadow Thief guild through the Side Door to get right to Renal. Talk to him and he'll have a quest for you, naturally. He doesn't trust Mae'Var, who runs the other Shadow Thief guild in this area. He wants you to go and infiltrate Mae'Var's guild and find some evidence of wrongdoing. He gives you papers with which to infiltrate the guild and instructions on what to do. Head out, and south, then east to get to Mae'Var's Guild. Enter. Talk to Gorch behind the counter and give him the documents. We can now open the doors behind him. Open the top door. Then go down the stairs. Open the secret door on the wall, and go forward until you meet Mae'Var. Mae'Var's first job for you is to steal the amulet off of the Weathermistress Ada, priestess of Talos. Go to the Temple District and enter the temple. You have two options, either wait until she is asleep and steal it from the chest by her bed, or if she is awake, pick pocket her until you get it. (20,000 exp) Return to Mae'Var and give him the amulet for another 29,500 exp. Evil Note: If you are Evil you will be sent to steal a Statuette of Lathander from their temple. You must break into their safe and swipe the statue. During the daytime the safe is guarded, so go at night when the guards are asleep. This depends on Reputation, not alignment. For the next job, you need to go talk with Edwin, who is on the top floor of this building. He wants you to kill a local Cowled Mage by the name of Rayic Gethras. Rayic's home is far left of here, just above the Harper's lair. If the door is open, invite yourself on in. The main floor is covered in Mephits. There are a couple of spells on this level (one in a trapped bookcase). Go up. There are several Golems on this level. You can also search the middle bed for some gold. Go to the next level. (but be ready for a Mage battle) Kill Rayic. Then search his table to find a Mislead spell. Rayic Gethras - 9000 exp Bracers AC 7 Staff +2 Trick: I found that when I confronted Rayic, he asked me to leave. I agreed, but instead of leaving, I proceeded to attack him. He spouted something off along the lines of 'I warned you, you should have left', but strangely did not turn hostile. I attacked him, but he still did not turn hostile. Therefore, he did not cast any protective spells (his contingency stoneskin kicked in but that was it), and was that much easier to dispatch. (David Haire) The patch should fix this bug. Return to Edwin. (20,000 exp) Edwin has one last job for you to accomplish for him. He wants you to get some Documents off of a pudgy man named Marcus, who is at the Sea's Bounty Inn. Well, that's close. Enter the main level of the Inn. You have three options to try: steal the documents, threaten him to get the documents and buy them for 200-250 gold. Female characters can also charm the documents from him. Take the documents to Edwin for 10,000 exp. He then refers you back to Mae'Var. Mae'Var wants you to take out a "traitor" named Embarl who is at the Sea's Bounty Inn. All you need is his dagger, so you needn't kill Embarl. You can ask him for his dagger if that makes you happier. Give the dagger to Mae'Var for 18,750 experience. He then tells you to talk to Edwin again. Do so, and Edwin threatens to tell everyone who you are and why you are here. Agree to Edwin's demands to be in on the action and let him join (if you want). Either way he has the Key to Mae'Var's strongbox which contains the Evidence we need. (remember why we came here in the first place?) Go downstairs. You will find the Strongbox at (x 500 y 300), use the key to open it and take the incriminating evidence. There are also some: Boots of Stealth Go back to Renal and present him the evidence. (48,250 exp) All that remains now is to go back and kill Mae'Var. Of course, now every thief within Mae'Var's guild is your enemy. Mae'Var - 14,000 experience Shadow Armor (AC 4, +15% Hide in Shadows) Gems and Gold (etc.) You can then go through the entire compound and loot it extensively to get lots of neat items: Buckler +1 (found in the safe on the second level) Studded Leather +1 Short Sword +2 Spear +1 Lots of Gold & Gems (be sure to check the "doors" on the 2nd lvl) Return to Renal to get your final reward: Short Sword of Backstabbing +3 10,500 gold 45,500 quest experience QUEST: Jaheira gets Cursed Sea's Bounty Inn - Docks (AR 0300, x 2125 y 2133) Baron Ployer - Sea's Bounty Inn (AR 0313, x 475 y 340) Bernard - Copper Coronet (by the counter, he moves around) Derelict House - Slums (AR 0400, x 2425 y 720) When you enter the Sea's Bounty Inn main floor, Baron Ployer talks to Jaheira. He was apparently ruined by her and the Harpers for doing evil things and he isn't too pleased about it. So, he had Jaheira cursed. Once Ployer has his magelings curse Jaheira, he teleports away. Jaheira can think of three ways to track him down: Search for his house in the slums, talk to Bernard in the Copper Coronet about Belgrade and talk to a Clerk in the Government Ward. Warning: You have 2 weeks before the curse kills Jaheira. Head out to the Government Ward. Enter the Council building and talk to Corneil. Then go outside. Just outside of the Council Building you will find the Mage Terrece, one of the three who cursed Jaheira in the first place. Talk to him. (3,2,2) He will turn on Ployer and allow you to attack him without the mages getting further involved. His price? 1000 gold. If your Charisma is at least 14 you can barter him down to 500. For this you gain 10,250 experience. Or, you can talk him into killing Ployer for you for 2000 gold and get 19,750 experience. Then immediately afterwards, kill Terrece to get 5000 exp and your money back. Now we go to talk to Bernard in the Copper Coronet, so off to the Slums! Bernard tells you that Belgrade is dead, and by the looks of things by a curse similar to what Jaheira is under. He mentions that the body was found in the east part of the slums, so that is where we will go. Head out of the Coronet, east, then north to the derelict house just to the left of the Slaver's ship. Enter the house and you'll find Ployer. If you didn't go out and bribe Terrece you will have a large Mage battle on your hands. (Silence 15' works wonders.) However, with the bribe in place, Ployer attempts to summon help, but ends out with nothing. If you bribed Terrece, then you can either let them kill Ployer, or you can kill the Mages first to get their experience and items (using the "Fake Talk" strategy, they will die quickly). Then you can deal with Ployer. His attitude changes quite a bit when no one shows up to help him. No matter what you do at this point you end out with a Lock of Jaheira's Hair and Ployer is a corpse. If you chose to let Ployer live, Jaheira will whack him anyway and you get another 21,250 exp. Once Jaheira has her Hair back in her possession she starts feeling better and you gain 21,250 experience. There are some other minor treasures to be found here as well. To uncurse Jaheira, simply sleep at an Inn until she is no longer cursed. (may take more than 1 rest) QUEST: Restore Kangaxx the Demi-Lich [from Taganath] Kangaxx's House - Docks (AR 0300, x 2700 y 2270) Arms & Legs - Sewers (AR 0202, x 1700 y 500) Torso - Bridge (AR 0500, x 1600 y 3340) The house to the right of the Sea's Bounty Inn holds a terrible secret. De-trap and unlock the door, go into the house and into the basement. When you double-click on the sarcophagus, Kangaxx asks you to retrieve his body, which has been scattered around Athkatla. His arms and legs are in the sarcophagus in the sewers under the temple district on the same screen as the cult of the eyeless. You have to fight the Shade Lich for them. His torso is located in the basement of a house in the Bridge section in yet another Sarcophagus and is guarded by the Elemental Lich. (you can find more detailed instructions on these Liches in the appropriate sections) Once you have both pieces, return to Kangaxx and he gloats at you, then attack you. When you kill him he becomes a Demilich. I think the Demilich is only hit by +4 weapons or better and you need be at a very high level to have any chance of killing him. The easy way to kill him (or any creature that relies on magic) is to get several green scrolls of protection from magic and use them on your party, then simply surround him with your protected characters and attack until he is dead, as all of his offensive magic is useless and he has no physical attack. Your reward for doing this is the excellent Ring of Gaxx (Regen., Protection from Poison, AC +2) and 55,000 experience. Warning: You CANNOT use the "fake talk" strategy on Kangaxx! Doing so will prevent him from EVER dying! You must beat him normally! Note: Berserked characters, like Minsc or Korgan, also can't be imprisoned. Protection from Undead scrolls also work (he'll ignore you), as does the mage spell Immunity to (Abjuration) to beat imprison. Tip: I found out an awesome way to kill the demi-lich. The ring of the ram does full damage to the lich. That can take out about thirty of his hit points right there. The best new thing I just found out is not that though. The Slayer can not be imprisoned! You just do the Slayer change and then keep wailing on the lich until he is dead. You just have to do it quick before being the Slayer kills you. [from Drew NA] Most of the lich fighting strategies found in the Undead sub- section of the Monster Strategies above will work as well. OTHER: The Mad Cleric Cleric - Docks near Shadow Thieves (AR 0300, x 1680 y 790) Those crazy followers of Cyric have a strange approach to conversion. Pretty much anything you say to this guy results in a fight. (750 exp, very minor treasures) You can avoid this fight if you say that he's "preaching to the choir," but then you lose the mighty 750 exp! OTHER: Pirates of the Sea's Bounty Sea's Bounty Inn - Docks (AR 0300, x 2125 y 2133) Secret Door - Sea's Bounty (AR 0313, x 515 y 160) Within the Sea's Bounty is a secret door (northwestern wall, main floor). Inside that there are several Pirates. They aren't worth much, but hey, it's better than Goblins. Once they're dead, search their pool for treasure: Pearls, Pearl Necklace, 1100 gold. OTHER: Free Battle Axe +1 Box - Docks (AR 0300, x 2240 y 2825) Just east of the Harper's (Galvarey Estate) is a small box that has a Battle Axe +1 (and some minor treasures). Nothing great, but it's better than the other treasures around here. OTHER: Ring of Lock Picks [from Skithee] In the docks area, there is a door on the far northeast side. You can get there by either walking along a platform, or by entering the western entrance of the barracks (the arch building on the east side of the docks) and exiting out of the other side. Through this door is part of the underground portion of the thieve's guild. There is only one guy in there. If you talk to him, he tries to convince you to overthrow Aran Linvail. In the middle of his conversation, another shadow thief that you can't see starts talking to him, threatens him, and says to help. He then backstabs the guy and runs off saying he needs to report. The dead guy drops the Ring of Lock Picks; +25% to Lock Picking. If you go into this room and you do not have the Shadow Thieve's Cellar key, which I believe is the key you find on the other side of the Vampire room in the Red Dragon's area, then you will be absolutely stuck. As soon as you enter the room, the door locks behind you, it can't be picked, forced, or knocked; it gives you one of those "this door does not have a conventional lock and may be warded against simple spells." or whatever. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.15 [TRDMTT] Trademeet (AR 2000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- When you first arrive in Trademeet you find a city under siege by nature. Something has caused the animals to attack the city, and the people suspect that the Druids are to blame. Companions: ----------- Cernd 13 9 13 12 18 13 Human Shapeshifter True Neutral Cernd was investigating the strange occurrences around Trademeet when he was brought in by the locals. Found at: Trademeet (talk to the Mayor) Event: When Cernd enters any of the major districts in Athkatla he learns that he is a Father. (See the Waukeen's Promenade section) Grade: C+ At first glance you might think Cernd is the worst character in existence. Though not entirely true, it does have some merit. He is a good Druid due to his high Wisdom. The rest of his stats are abysmal, HOWEVER when he turns into a Werewolf, his stats LEAP upwards to the point of superhuman strength, dexterity and constitution. Quests: ------- QUEST: Wilfred the Red [from John Knudson] Tent - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 315 y 3015) At a tent outside of Trademeet, you can find an arrogant sop named Wilfred the Red. Talk to Wilfred, who asks who you are, then when he offers to tell his story tell him you're listening and last say his story is a lie. You receive 1000 exp and 1000 gold. Correct conversation thread is 1,1,2. This requires a character with high WIS to talk to him. QUEST: Solve the Animal Troubles of Trademeet Mayor's House - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 1300 y 2300) Druid Temple - Druid Grove (AR 1900, x 850 y 300) Since we were originally asked to come here to solve this problem, it should be the one you work on first (although you should also work on the Genie Embargo at the same time, see below). Head over to the Mayor's House and go inside. You will find the Mayor in a side office to the right. Talk to Logan Coprith. You will learn of their troubles and that they have captured a druid. Logan thinks that this Druid had nothing to do with it, and asks that you go talk to him and escort him out of the city. Go into the basement. Talk to Cernd and let him join for the moment. Sure he is the weakest human in existence, but he isn't a bad guy. Transform him into a werewolf and leave him like that. Exit the town and go over to the Druid Grove. Evil Note: There is an alternative way to do this quest, see the next quest, 'Evil Method of Druid Removal', below. There are trolls around, so be sure that you have a way to kill them (fire or acid). There are two structures that we must pass to get to our goal, the Druids. First we go by the Troll Mound. This plays a part in various other plots (notably the Druid Grove quests), but isn't important to us right now. You can go in it and kill the trolls if you want. Second we go by a large building. This building contains the Rakshasa's needed to finish the Genie Embargo quest (see below). Past those is our goal, the Druid Enclave. Note: Just below the Rakshasa's house is a small tower, within you will find the Scimitar of Speed +2: Belm. So, from the entrance, head left to the Troll Mound (x 900 y 2500). Along the way you may meet a "helpful" druid. Once there you can go in if you want: Bracers of Archery Spear of the Unicorn +2 Go up, then right. (x 1340 y 1200) This leads to a group of Druids fighting trolls. If you help the Druids and fight off the trolls for them, then the druids turn on you and attack. So, you may as well not do anything, let the druids get killed then kill the trolls. Go down and right, then right to another group of stupid druids. Yes, they must be killed as well. Head right across the rock bridge (x 3400 y 1500). This leads directly to the Rakshasa house if you want to do that quest now. Go up, then left. Cross this bridge then keep going left (fight the Myconids if you feel like it). You will soon reach the final group of druids (not the leader) who again attack you: Flame Tongue +1 Club +2: Gnasher Enter the temple. Go left to find Faldorn the Shadow Druid. (Save it here) Have a Druid in your party (Either you, Jaheira or Cernd) challenge her for supremacy. They will be thrown naked into a pit (by naked I mean no armor) to fight it out. Before they challenge, you can cast any spells you want on your Druid, such as Iron Skins, Haste, or whatever. When Faldorn dies the first time, she turns into a fiercer panther. When that dies you get 14,000 experience and have cleared out the Grove. If your main character is a Druid you can challenge for leadership of the Grove. Duncan Clay has a battle tip for dealing with Faldorn: Before you fight Faldorn, stand your party next to the pit. Get your druid (I used Jaheira) to give their stuff to someone in your group. When your druid enters the pit, pause the game and equip all their stuff. Interestingly, although you are in combat (can't save) you can equip your armor. Jaheira had AC-11 and the Gnasher club and won easily without casting a single spell. I didn't even see a panther. Head back to Trademeet. (the easiest way out of the Grove is to go left after you leave the temple) Talk to the Mayor to get your reward: 2000 gold 18,000 experience for each character He will also ask that you help them out with their Genie problem. QUEST: Evil Method of Druid Removal [from Dominic] The first thing I did when I entered Trademeet was talk to Guildmistress Busya. She is in the Mayor's house. Then I talked to the Mayor, he asked me to talk to Cernd. I didn't take Cernd into my party, instead we agreed on meeting each other in the druid grove. Anyway, a halfling (Lord Khellon Menold) walks up to me and initiates a dialog. This is the guy who gives you the poison. He asks if I'm the mercenary hired to save them, and whether or not I'm capable of defeating the druids. Unless I tell him to get out of my way he will answer that he is to become the next High Merchant. I ask him about Logan knowing about his position, he asks me what Logan wanted me to do. I tell him about Cernd and our investigation. After that, he will show his dislike for nature and druids and whatnot. Then, he proposes an alternate quest. "Allow me to present a bit of background to you. It will help you understand the trials ahead and what you must do." "This is not the first problem we've had with these freaks, these tree-huggers. Far from it. Last year, my company was to open a caravan route through the forest." He tells you about how he attacked a druid (who was defending the forest), and killed some other druids. Jaheira wants you to ignore him. The druids went to Trademeet and blamed Lord Khellon Menold for instigation and murder. He wants his revenge by poisoning the grove. At this point he will give you the poison should you choose to accept his task. Meet him again outside the tavern after you accomplished the task. Meet Cernd in the grove and tell him Jaheira will take up the challenge. The party gets 24500 exp. for pouring the poison in the font (could be some more or some less). Doing so will make all the druids complain and attack you. The Guardian of the Font (4000 exp.) will call Faldorn (I didn't get exp. for her... strange?) and they both attack you. When Faldorn is dead, Master Verthan (2000 exp.) warps in and wants you dead. He summons some creatures: 2 grizzly bears and 2 panthers. Kill them. You won't get the Staff of Lightning this way. None of the druids have any treasure (well, not exactly true... one of them had a Charm Person Scroll). When you get out, Cernd will have nothing to say to you. As in, you can't initiate a dialog with him. Weird. Back in Trademeet Lord Khellon Menold rewards you with 1000 gold and a Shield of Harmony +2. At this point you'll probably get some exp., but I don't know how much. The Guildmistress thanks you, but Logan is quite angry with you (reputation decreased 1). I haven't found a way to calm him down. Which means that you won't be heroes of Trademeet and you don't get the family feud quest. Some other information: At the beginning of the quest I had an evil party with reputation 12. It consisted of Jaheira (leader, lvl 10/12), Korgan (lvl 12), Yoshimo (lvl 16), me (kensai mage, lvl 12/11), Viconia (lvl 12) and Edwin (lvl 12). (again, this Quest was from Dominic) QUEST: The Genie Embargo Genie Tent - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 3500 y 2900) Rakshasa House - Druid Grove (AR 1900, x 4400 y 900) If you talk around everyone will be talking of one of two things, the animals assaulting the town, or the genies preventing the normal flow of trade. Near the eastern entrance to town is a blue tent that holds these genies. Go in and talk to them. Tip: Pickpocket the genie outside of the tent to get a Bottle of Efreeti Summoning (Ken Adams). Talk to the Khan about what they are doing there and he'll reveal that they are there hunting a Rakshasa and until they do they are holding the city's trade hostage. Agree to bring him the head of the Rakshasa in exchange for letting the city go (and some treasure to boot). You can also buy items from him. (of course, until you solve this they are the only people you can buy from) After you talk to Khan Zahraa, if you go outside Trademeet's Northeast Gate (near the City Crypt), you will meet up with a Shadow Thief who wishes to impart to you information on the Rakshasa location for free (they want business to return to normal so that they can have their 'share'). She will disclose some information on the potion seller that suggests that she has been 'replaced' by the Rakshasa. (Rolander) When you get to the Druid Grove (you have to do the above quest in order to get there) follow the path past the Troll Mound, and across the bridge to find the Rakshasa House. Enter it. Talk to the woman here and she turns into Ihtafeer and teleports in two Rakshasa friends to help out. (If you have Keldorn -- or Jan -- in your party, he'll detect Ihtafeer's evilness, regardless of whether you accepted this quest) Ihtafeer - 15,000 experience Head Periapt of Proof Against Poison Another Rakshasa had a Cleric's Staff. There are also some magic arrows in a chest on the upper level. Return with the Head to the Djinn to end the Embargo. The Khan also gives you a Scimitar +2: Rashad's Talon and 10,000 experience. Then go to Guildmistriss Busya in the Mayor's house to get a further reward: 7500 Gold Gems and Necklaces Small Shield +2: Harmony (immune to charm) Finally talk to the mayor to get another 2000 gold and become the Heroes of Trademeet! 25,250 experience for each Character 10,750 Gold Reputation +1 You will also be approached by the two leading houses of Trademeet, each of whom want you to do them favors (see The Two Feuding Houses below). Also your likeness now graces the town statue, as you are the Heroes of Trademeet. (If Cernd was a Werewolf at the time his statue is particularly... lifelike! Similar things happen if other party members are polymorphed.) QUEST: Tiris the Frightened and the Return of the Tanner Tiris' Home - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 1275 y 900) Darsidian Moor - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 80 y 2860) Rejiek - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 3715 y 2030) After you have completed the first two quests, Jenia will approach you, the Hero of Trademeet, and ask that you go talk to Tiris. Go up to Tiris' home (the one just to the left of the Smithy) and talk to Tiris. He tells you that he left his love to die (not on purpose) and that the evil-doer is Rejiek, who we all know and love as the Tanner who flayed peasants alive in Athkatla. He tells you to check by the southwest gate. Go out the western gate and go south near the tent to find a "hunter" named Darsidian Moor. He is hunting what he calls a Skin Dancer, who may be Rejiek and could use your help. He tells you to follow him eastwards. From the main plaza (with the tiled face on the ground) go east and you will find Darsidian and "Raissa". They tell you to finish off Rejiek. Talk to him instead and it turns out that Rejiek and Raissa are reversed. The ruse fails and Darsidian and Rejiek attack you. (They steal the skins of people, if you are wondering) Kill them. The real Raissa then rises up and asks you to help her. In order to prevent her from becoming like Rejiek she needs someone to cast Restoration on her. (or Lesser Restoration) If one of your Clerics doesn't have that spell go to the Temple and buy the scroll. Come back and cast it on her. She returns to normal and you get 30,000 experience. If you don't heal her in time, she'll go hostile on you. Infinite Exp Bug: When you kill the two skin dancers, talk to Raissa and she gets up and tells you she is one of the skin dancers, and asks you for a restoration spell to "fix" her. She doesn't have the money, so she wants you to cast one on her. If you don't have one, you can go buy one, and she will wait right where you found her. I took the opportunity to surround her, so she couldn't get away. Then cast the spell, and she says thank you and you get 30,000 exp points. Pause, and talk to her, and she repeats her "thank you" line and you get another 30,000 exp. (wvfoos) Return to Tiris' Home and talk to his parents to get a Reputation Increase of 1. Rolander found a few different ways to handle this quest: Not-so-good and bad ending for this quest. If you kill off the disguised Raissa, 'Raissa' would want to return to Tiris herself. If you insist on escorting her back, the skin dancers would break cover and attack. Then you return to Tiris to tell him about the bad news. If you let 'Raissa' go off herself, when you return to Tiris's home, Tiris would have been conned into leaving with 'Raissa', for good and his parents fear that he would never be seen again. In both these outcomes, you don't get the Rep+1 QUEST: The Two Feuding Houses Alibakkar Estate - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 1000 y 1280) Crypt - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 3200 y 550) At the little party they throw you for being the Heroes of Trademeet, two nobles approach you and ask for your assistance in becoming the only noble house in Trademeet. Go to one of their homes afterwards (I went to Alibakkar). Talk to the noble there and they will give you the key to the city crypt. They want you to obtain for them the Mantle of Waukeen, which will prove their superiority over the other house. Head out to the crypt and go inside. Before you manage to do that the Mayor comes up to you and tells you not to give the Mantle to the nobles as it will only make their feud worse. Enter. You will find the Mantle on one of the Skeletal Warriors within. Take it. Now you have two options as to what to do. Give the Mantle to the Mayor is the non-violent solution. (Reputation +1, 8000 experience, and 250 gold) Or there is the violent solution. Give one of the nobles the Mantle, and they soon attack each other and YOU. Then you must fight the nobles and their guards. The Lord has a set of Elven Chainmail (AC 5). Of course, you could give the Mantle to the Mayor, then go kill the Lord anyway with no loss of reputation. QUEST: Mazzy's Family's Quest Mazzy's Home - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 2740 y 1000) Some time after you have Mazzy in your party (this is Real time, not game time), Danno will approach her and ask for help. Seems that he gave his girlfriend, Mazzy's sister, a Love potion that went awry and her life now hangs in the balance. Return to Trademeet and enter the Fentan home. Pala, her sister, is on her death bed having been poisoned by Wallace, the gnome who sold the potion in the first place. Now we must go out and find that gnome. You will find the gnome in the marketplace in the southern part of town. When you approach, Mazzy automatically talks to him. (6750 experience) He tells you that the potion came from a new Cleric of Waukeen. Go to the temple. Talk to the priest here and tell him what you know of the other cleric, Barl. He agrees to search his room. He comes back and says that he found some evidence of wrongdoing. Barl is summoned forth and very soon you are in a battle with him and some Poison Mists. When he is dead, Mazzy finds a bottle (25,000 exp) that may be an antidote. You are automatically taken to Mazzy's home again, where the potion is used and Pala is cured. Mazzy asks to stay with her for a day. OTHER: Your Fortune Fortune-teller - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 1060 y 3030) There is a group of gypsies (not called gypsies, but that is what they are) outside the town. The woman there will tell you your fortune, but she doesn't seem to like what she sees. Also you can have other party members talk to her and she will tell their fortunes as well. (Max Chen) OTHER: Neeber Neeber - Trademeet (AR 2000, x 2433 y 1240) Talk to Neeber about 15 times and he'll give you some Bullets +2. And everyone also gets 1000 experience. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. [THGLDW] Chapter 3: The Guild War ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- When the party has gained over 15,000 gold, while in the city, you will be confronted by two interested parties. The first, a thief named Valen, tells you to meet her mistress in the Graveyard. This is the evil track. The second, Brus -- whom we met before -- tells you to go back to Gaelan. There are many other examples of the guild war. At night throughout the city you will see thieves and vampires conversing, attacking and whatnot. Sansuki, a thief, will beg you for aid. You can fight off his vampire enemies to get 8500 experience (plus what the vampires are worth). There are other fights as well, and you can get involved in them if you wish. The next two sections are mutually exclusive. If you work for the Shadow Thieves, you CAN'T work for Bodhi and vice versa. Bodhi also doesn't care for thief main characters. Once you pay your money you start Chapter 3 and get to watch as Jon Irenicus breaks free of the Cowled Wizards prison. Spiffy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1 [WRKNGF] Working for the Shadow Thieves ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - TALK TO ARAN LINVAIL Once you have paid your 15,000 gold to Gaelan, he gives you a key and tells you to go talk with Aran Linvail, the TRUE power behind the Shadow Thieves. (Renal Bloodscalp is for tourists) Head over to the Docks and enter the Shadow Thieves guild from the main door. Open the northeastern door to reach the back room. There search the wall to find the Secret Door (which is locked with the key Gaelan sold you). (x 1375 y 330) Go down the stairs here. Note: If you lost the key, the item code to create it is: misc4s Welcome to the TRUE Shadow Thieves Guild. On this level you will find all sorts of crazy things. Thieves training with all manner of objects, spells, and whatnot. We don't need to get involved in any of that (although it is quite interesting, and has a few items to boot), so just open up the secret door (x 1560 y 1800). Go down this hallway all the way until you reach Aran's room. Talk with him and agree to help him beat the other guild. In exchange he gives you some items: Amulet of Power (5% magic res., reduces casting time) Ring of Protection +2 - JOB 1: HELP MOOK AT THE DOCKS Wait until nightfall and head down to where the ships are loaded where you will find the thief, Mook. (x 1700 y 3625) Talk to her to get things rolling. She has seen some guy wandering around looking suspicious. Soon the guy shows up and she goes up to talk to him. Soon he kills her, and you must fight him. When you get him beat, he turns to mist and floats away. You will have to deal with Lassal again later. Return to Aran Linvail, and tell him what transpired. He gives everyone in your party 28,500 experience and another job. - JOB 2: PREVENT MORE THIEVES FROM LEAVING Aran tells you that several of his thieves are suspected of wanting to leave the guild. You are to meet with these thieves on the second floor of the Five Flagons Inn in the Bridge District where they are to meet with their contact from the rival guild. You will find these thieves in the second room on the left. Pretend to be on their side (like you are switching as well), then when they ask you who you are there to see, turn the tables on them and accuse them of spying on you. (3,3,1) They accidentally reveal the name of their contact to be Gracen before attacking you. Then wait for the Guild Contact to arrive. He asks what is going on. Reply with 4) Nothing, Gracen... and he thinks that you are they. He tells you to meet under the graveyard, past the big blue doors. Then kill the Contact as he is of no more use to you (plus whatever you say leads to him attacking you). Return to Aran. Report to him what has happened and everyone gets 28,500 experience. Oh, and he has one last job for you. - JOB 3: CLEAR OUT THE VAMPIRE NEST He wants you to go underneath the Graveyard, and clear out the vampires. In order to get the big doors open, he will be sending a mage to assist. He also gives you a lot of wooden stakes with which to kill the vampires. When you're ready, head on out to the Graveyard and go down into the crypts (x 650 y 1820). Now we need to go to the top crypts to find our mage who will have his Golem open the big doors for us (x 1725 y 1475). Be prepared for a battle with vampires. Lassal soon appears, taunts you and vanishes. He sets his Grimwarders to attack you. They are like invisible skeletons. (4000 exp) The mage always manages to get himself killed here. He might not for you, but he always dies on me. Oh well. Forward! Take a left (x 1000 y 950) after Lassal taunts you again. Here you will fight your first vampire, Gellal (14,500 exp). Notice how it turns to mist. That means that you haven't actually KILLED him, simply destroyed his current form. Follow this passage left, then down. Enter the first room on the left and kill the Clay Golem. There are three coffins in here, one of which is now occupied by Gellal (x 340 y 1360). Notice how the mouse turns to the sword icon? Go up to the coffin and Stake the Vampire (9000 exp). Every time you kill a vampire with a Name, come back here to finish it off. If you need more stakes, you can find a pair in the room to the south. Open the big obvious secret door (x 450 y 1250). Within this room are a Greater Ghoul, a Fledgling Vampire and another Vampire named Durst. When Durst is dead, go back to the previous room to Stake him. (9000 exp) Search the pool of blood (click it twice) to get: (x 400 y 700) Mace of Disruption +1 (kills undead, can be upgraded with Illithium) Open the right wall to return to the main room. (x 700 y 750) Go now right in the bottom passage (x 1630 y 715) until you bump into a few more vampires. One of them, Tanova, casts spells and such. (10,000 exp) And despite having a "name" when you kill her she doesn't retreat to a coffin. Further to the right is a Spiked Room. Don't go here yet as there is nothing to see. Now go down the stairs (x 1550 y 565). Follow this Ghoul filled passageway to the door. This brings up a battle with 3 vampires and 4 Grimwarders. Nothing tough. If you have trouble with it, stay within the passage and fight the monsters one at a time as they come through the door (doesn't work on the archers). In the left room you will find a trapped chest of treasure (x 1040 y 200) Ashen Scale (AC 2) Katana +2 In the right room you will find Lassal. He taunts you and tells you to meet him upstairs in the bladed room. Go upstairs and follow his instructions. You will find him at the top right of the bladed room. Kill him (11,500 exp). Return to the room of coffins and Stake Lassal (9000 exp). With that done, Bodhi appears. She talks to you for a LOOOONG time about the Shadow Thieves (she says you can't trust them), Imoen (who escaped your notice) and Irenicus. Then, of course, you do battle. She soon flees (18,750 exp) leaving you to wonder about things. Keep a Stake around, you'll need at least one for later. - TO SPELLHOLD Return to Aran Linvail and talk to him. He has a lot of explaining to do! For this everyone in the party gets 50,000 experience points. He explains how the Shadow Thieves found Irenicus and whatnot. Then he has a plan to rescue Imoen. You will sail to the island where the Asylum called Spellhold is located. There you can formulate a plan to break in and steal Imoen out. When you are ready, take his offer of a ship to Spellhold. But, be warned, you won't be coming back to Athkatla for a VERY long time! This is continued in the Spellhold Section. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2 [WKNGFB] Working for Bodhi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - MEET WITH BODHI You cannot do this once you have joined with the Shadow Thieves. Conversely if you join here you won't be able to join the Shadow Thieves. Also, if the main character is a Thief, then Bodhi won't offer you a job at all. Finally, if you attacked any of the vampires at night, she won't appear. Once you have the 15,000 gold, merely go to the Graveyard at night to meet with Bodhi, the leader of the "rival guild." Then meet with Bodhi. She knows much about you and your situation. If you want, give her the money and she gives you a room in her crypt to rest in if you want. You are also given a job. Everyone in the party gains 36,750 experience. Note: Bodhi doesn't stop you from attacking her henchmen and looting her stronghold after you join her so long as you do it when she is out of sight. This gets you some exp plus you can get the mace of disruption (just get it out of the pool were it is already) sooner if you decide to work for Bodhi instead of the Shadow Thieves. Note that when you come back to get Imoen's soul from Bodhi there are a fresh bunch of vampires fighting alongside Bodhi (so this doesn't mean she is alone when you come back). [from Nathaniel Ragatz] - JOB 1: DISRUPT THE SHIPMENT AT THE DOCKS The first job is the reverse of what you would do with Aran, namely, disrupt the Shadow Thief shipment and take the cargo back to Bodhi. Go to the Docks district. Careful, as every Shadow Thief is now your enemy. Go to the southwest of this area, to the shipyards. (x 1850 y 3615) Kill the thieves and then search them for treasure: Shipment (needed for Bodhi) Rifthome Axe +3 (throwing axe, returns to sender) Short Sword +2 Return with the shipment to Bodhi. You'll find her in the crypt, main hall. Give her the item and everyone in the party gets 28,500 exp. - JOB 2: PICK YOUR TASK Bodhi takes the shipment and has a choice of two jobs for you, a "noble" task and a "not so noble" task. You must pick one as you can't do both. Good: Rescue Palern Flynn from the Shadow Thieves. One of the Shadow Thieves turned traitor, but was captured and is currently being interrogated. You must break into the Shadow Thieves compound, go to the second floor and rescue Palern. You have about one day to complete this before he is killed. Go to the Docks. This is easiest done by going in the side door on the Shadow Thieves building (x 1000 y 1200) as this leads directly to the second floor. Clear out the thieves on this level and then talk to Palern to free him. There are also some minor treasures on this level. Return to Bodhi for 28,500 experience for everyone and another job. (If Palern was killed, you get no experience) Bad: Kill Senior Armagaran Vulova and implicate the Shadow Thieves. Bodhi wants you to kill a member of the government and set the blame to fall on the Shadow Thieves. She gives you a Cloak and a Dagger for you to place in Vulova's fountain once the deed is done. Oh, and if you have Good aligned players, they will complain vociferously about this. Head out to the Government District. You will find Vulova's Estate at the very top of the map here (x 2400 y 133). Walk towards him and he'll automatically talk to you. You can tell him to just die, at which point you have to fight his goons. Once he is dead, place the Cloak and Dagger in his fountain. If you let him live you will not get experience from Bodhi later. Return to Bodhi for another 28,500 experience for all party members and one last job. (and again if you didn't kill Vulova, you get no experience) - JOB 3: KILL ARAN LINVAIL Your final job for Bodhi is to assassinate the secret leader of the Shadow Thieves, Aran Linvail. You will first need to get the key from Gaelan, so go back to the Slums. Gaelan's house is just to the left of Jan Jansen's tower (x 3140 y 1170). Kill Gaelan and take his key. (He has several other magical weapons, etc.) Go now to the Docks. Enter the Shadow Thieves Guild from the front entrance, kill everyone here and loot what you can. Then open the northeast door and enter this small room. Search for the secret door on the northeast wall (x 1380 y 330). Open it and go in. After another battle with thieves here, you will find Tizzak (a member of Bodhi's guild) just past a door down and right (x 1333 y 2220). He asks you to kill the torturer to get his key. Go right to find the torturer. Kill Booter and take his key. Return to Tizzak and free him. He tells you how to get to Aran. Aran's lair is protected by two magical doors. The first is opened via a button, while the second requires a key. You can probably find that key on Haz, Aran's right hand man. Go up the northwest passage (x 1100 y 1600). At the fork, turn right and go up. Make your way across this bridge, through the enemies until you reach the room with the false buildings. Beware of traps in here, they will Maze you. Head up the northeast passage. This will be heavily trapped. Here you will find a big red glowing button (x 3550 y 300). Push it to open the first door. Back to the false building room, then take the southeast passage. (Beware of traps and orcs) This leads to a couple of doors, go through those and up the next passage. Past this passage is a room that contains Haz the mage. (x 3820 y 1175) Kill Haz and his goons to get the key to Aran's lair. Go all the way back to where we first entered this level. (x 1333 y 2220) On the way back I was ambushed by Dedral and some Shadow Thieves (10,000 exp). Open the secret door on the northeastern wall (x 1550 y 1800). Go all the way down this passage, through the orcs and elementals through the first door (which we opened with the button) to the second door (which you can open with the key). Open it to find Aran Linvail, the Shadowmaster. Aran has many Shadow Thieves with him, including Mages and Priests. Aran Linvail - 17,000 experience Elven Chainmail +1 Amulet of Power (5% magic res., -1 casting time) Ring of Protection +2 Short Sword +2 Light Crossbow +2 Also search his chest (x 4500 y 1930) to find more interesting treasures: Ring of Djinni Summoning Katana +2 We're done here, head back to Bodhi. - TO SPELLHOLD She explains that while you want to help Imoen, she wants to get Irenicus and access his knowledge. She admits that they are related, and that what he was attempting to do with you was to free your power. She has arranged a transport for you to the Spellhold Island, aboard a ship. Whenever you are ready, tell her you want to go to the island. Careful, you won't be coming back for a long, long time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. [BRNNLW] Chapter 4: Brynnlaw (AR 1600) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- First thing we get to see what Irenicus has been up to all this time, testing various things on Imoen (and that also explains why Bodhi captured all those Shadow Thieves). Then you are taken across the sea to the town of Brynnlaw, which is a stone's throw away from the Asylum Spellhold. If you followed the Shadow Thieves, then Sime will say that she doesn't trust Saemon, your captain. He does seem suspicious... If you followed Bodhi, then Bodhi will have Saemon show you around town before vanishing into the night. Saemon tells you to seek the tavern, before ending his tour. He isn't very motivated. Walkthrough: ------------ - FIND INFORMATION Once off the Shadow Thieves ship, Saemon turns traitor and has some Vampires attack you, before vanishing himself. Fight off the three vampires and Sime will talk to you. She recommends talking to Sanik in the tavern to discover an entrance to Spellhold. If you got off Bodhi's Ship, Saemon merely waits by his ship. He also recommends talking to Sanik in the tavern to gain entrance to Spellhold. Head out to the Vulgar Monkey Tavern. It is up one level (seeing as the city is built on several terraced levels), about in the center of the map (x 2000 y 1550). You will find Sanik inside, he is dressed as a green mage. Talk with him. He begins telling you some stuff, but is quickly assassinated in the name of Guildmistress Galvena. The innkeeper will then talk with you. He provides some details on the situation, telling you that Sanik's bride likely knows a way into Spellhold, but that she would be currently held by Galvena. This would require getting into the Guild, one way or the other. - GALVENA'S GUILD We can now enter the Guild (x 1080 y 1485) on the first level of town. However, talk to one of the Courtesan's just outside the guild and get them to take you inside (which may require that you buy their services for 100 gold). Once inside, tell the courtesan that you are there to rescue Claire and they should leave you alone. Leave that room. You are in the main hallway, go leftwards. Kill the guards (one has a Halberd +2). Enter the room to the right of the guards (x 345 y 195), and search the wardrobe in the back to find Galvena's Key. Go back to the hall, and enter the last door. Search the jail until you find Galvena. Tell her that her evil ways are over, then kill her. (4000 exp) She also has her mage, Vadek, with her (8000 exp) and they have some minor magical treasures. Alternatively: When talking to the Courtesans in front of Lady [from Galvena's Festhall, offer to pay to pry information Willis Su] about Claire. You can complain about the high fee that he/she charges you (200 gold!!) and the courtesan will tell you what you need to know (reputation/charisma influence?). You will find that the courtesans are sympathetic to Claire. Offer to kill Galvena to free the courtesans will also bring you into the Festhall. Also ask how you might move about the Festhall secretly without alarming people, and the courtesans will tell you to obtain a guild pin that all courtesan masters wear. The Ginia quest can now be completed like it should. Talk to the courtesan again and he/she will offer to take you in (that or you can offer to go in on your own with the medallion). Once inside, the courtesan offers you a sleeping potion that you can take to the cooks. Before heading into the kitchen, the guards will stop you, and now you can bluff them with your medallion. Convince Ellie in the kitchen to help you save Claire, and the courtesan in the kitchen will volunteer to slip the drugged ale to the guards. In return you have to promise to rid them of Galvena. Follow the courtesan to drug the guards. 4,000 exp after they are all drugged. The Galvena Quest can now be completed as usual. When Galvena is killed, go back and talk to Ellie and every one in the party will receive 2,250 exp. There is a bug here, and if you keep talking to Ellie, you can keep on racking in the 2,250 exp. And since the guards are drugged, you can finish them off at your leisure without a nasty fight. - PERTH THE ADEPT Talk to Claire and she'll agree to take you to see Golin who may know how to get into the Asylum. (10,000 exp) Golin thanks you and will even give you 22 gold (2000 exp). He mentions that only 2 types of people can enter Spellhold, Cowled Wizards and Magical Deviants. There is one crazy Cowled Wizard living in town, Perth the Adept who may have a way in. You can also have the Pirate Captain throw you in there if you prove to be unstable enough. The best option is to go find Perth and take his wardstone. You will find Perth's house at the top of the city (x 3000 y 1200). Perth is apparently being Dominated by Irenicus as he wants to "test your limits." Interestingly, Yoshimo tells him that there will no testing with Yoshimo around, and Perth calls that inconsequential. Hmmm... Perth - 20,000 experience Wardstone for the Asylum Book of Infinite Spells We can now go to Spellhold (x 3500 y 2). - PIRATE KING WARNING: As he is somewhat critical later, don't kill the Pirate King. Alternatively you can go seek the Aid of the Pirate King. Head up to the pirate king's house, and talk to his door guard (x 1115 y 665). Tell him that Golin sent you and he'll open the door to the house. You get 38,500 exp for convincing him that you are crazy. And there is no reason that you can't get Perth's experience then have the Pirate King commit you. Having trouble convincing him that you're crazy? Let Minsc at him! SPOILERS Keeping Yoshimo Note: [from Accord] "If you really want to keep Yoshi, have him in your party, then before you enter the Spellhold, go inside an inn (or any building), put him near the doorway and drop him from the party (and tell him to wait for you). Once you finished the whole Spellhold drama, head back to where you drop Yoshi off, as soon as you walk into the inn (or whatever building he is in), PAUSE the game and command your character to talk to him. When you talk to him, talk him back into the party. When the conversation ends and Yoshi is in your party, he will die from the geas. Just take him to a temple or resurrect him and he is as good as new." Note: Yoshimo cannot be taken to Brynnlaw in order for this to work. Note: I've heard that even if you keep Yoshimo, he can't be taken into the expansion. "Nerfing" Yoshimo Note: [from Xar] Since you know when he will betray you, dual him into a mage just before going through the door. When he reappears with Irenicus he will be nearly completely useless. END SPOILERS Quests: ------- QUEST: Liberate Ginia the Courtesan Ginia - Brynnlaw (AR 1600, x 3450 y 1700) Chremy - Brynnlaw (AR 1600, x 1820 y 1450) Calahan - Brynnlaw (AR 1600, x 1590 y 1740) At the top right of the city you will meet a woman named Ginia who was recently forced into prostitution. Instead, she tries begging instead and says that she has done the deed. Ask her what the trouble is. You see, Chremy holds her brother captive, and as long as he does, she is forced to gather money for him. Agree to help. You will find Chremy to the left of her. Talk to him. He doesn't see reason (did you think that he would?), forcing you to kill him. Interestingly, he has Galvena's Medallion on him, which you could use to get into Galvena's Guildhall if you wanted. Now we have to smuggle Ginia out of town. Drop down another level and find Calahan, the Smuggler. Talk to Calahan and ask him to get Ginia out of town. For 200 gold he will smuggle them out to Ulgoth's Beard for you. (2000 exp) Return to Ginia and tell her the good news (9000 exp). QUEST: Ason the Little Thief Ason - Brynnlaw (AR 1600, x 560 y 1170) In the western part of the city, a young boy will approach you and swipe 10 gold off of you. He mentions that if he doesn't steal from you then someone will hit him. This is related to the above quest about Ginia (Ason is her brother). OTHER: Pirates This town is crawling in Pirates. Some will attack you, others will attack each other. None of them have any good treasures. OTHER: Priestess of Umberlee Temple of Umberlee - Brynnlaw (AR 1600, x 2530 y 1600) Within Brynnlaw there is a temple to the goddess Umberlee. Makes sense as Umberlee rules the waves. Anyway, you can buy several interesting objects from her, like a Girdle of Bluntness, but you can also kill her for no loss of reputation and 14,000 exp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1 [SPLLHL] Spellhold ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- As there are two ways into Spellhold, there are two places you can end up. If you simply walked to the Asylum using Perth's Wardstone, you must enter the Asylum on your own. In that case you enter through the front doors. (x 625 y 1050) If you asked the Pirate King to have you committed you will find yourself already inside one of the cell's in the Asylum. However, you won't stay there long, as soon enough Irenicus teleports in. You can talk to each of the inmates several times, and some give you items (gems and worthless scrolls). If Yoshimo is in your party, he turns traitor. Turns out that he was working for Irenicus the entire time. Not that he was actually doing anything to hamper your efforts, but still. Whether he was in your party or not, the results are the same. You are drugged and put to sleep, when you awaken you are in the tube... Walkthrough: ------------ - THE (ALMOST) FINAL DREAM Remember the three dreams that you had in chapters 2 and 3? Well now is the time for the (near) Final Dream, and this time you are given control. After listening to Imoen we're on our way. First thing first, go through the gate to enter the castle (this is the Dream Candlekeep, and if you didn't play the first Baldur's Gate, Candlekeep is where that game started). If you don't want to lose a stat, see the Alternatively below. You will find a Demon barring your way. He wants you to make a sacrifice to enter. What will you sacrifice? Your mind -1 INT Your Health -1 CON Your agility -1 DEX Your wits -1 WIS Give up whatever you can afford to give up (fighters should drop Wisdom or Intelligence, mages Constitution, etc. Try not to give up Dexterity whatever class you are). You lose whatever you chose to lose, and can then enter the castle (x 2000 y 1500). Go to the back of this room to find the dream Imoen. She tells you to "lead the beast here." Sounds easy enough. Leave the castle. Go left to find Bhaal (about x 1000 y 1800). Talk to him and get him to chase you. Now return to the castle, go in and go to Imoen. Don't worry Bhaal will follow you. Imoen then says she will make it vulnerable. Attack. Once defeated Bhaal gets irritated. Alternatively: [from K.C.] The demon has to take it away from you; you don't simply lose it. Therefore if the demon never has time to take away your stat you'll never lose it. Fight Bhaal outside and weaken him to near death status. Lure him over to the door and talk to the demon just as he's about to catch up. Choose any stat to sacrifice (it doesn't matter which). Quickly do a fake-talk as soon as the conversation ends and use the time to run inside. If you're quick enough you won't lose the stat. Now when you talk to Imoen the dream will come to an abrupt end and you'll be transported out of the area without losing anything. SPOILER: The Imoen in your dream is actually your own soul taken form to help you out. This is why the dream ends with "Imoen" screaming... your soul has just been sucked out of you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.2 [MZBNTH] Maze beneath Spellhold (AR 1512) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- Bodhi was given the task of killing you, and instead she dumped you in a maze to play with you some more. She says that she will give you time to escape and stop Irenicus from his evil plans... Also you can pick up Imoen again (and you really should, she IS your sister). I assume that Yoshimo turned traitor to make room for Imoen to return to your party. If you talk to Imoen, but don't take her with you, she simply heads back to the surface, where you could get her later. Due to the nature of this maze, all the optional items (the riddles and the portal) have been integrated into the walkthrough. This is just for convenience sake. Walkthrough: ------------ - EXPLORE THE MAZE Ok, we are in a big evil maze, and need to find the way out. Don't be afraid to rest. Sure, Bodhi said you are on a clock but she is an evil vampire who can't be trusted. Go down the southwest passage, kill whatever is there (for me it was Umber Hulks and Minotaurs) to find the big statue head (x 750 y 2100). He asks you to find the Builder's Hand. Also you can search a pot near him for some spells. Back to the beginning. There are now three directions we can travel: Northeast, Northwest and Southeast. (we've been southwest) Go up the northeast passage first, (x 2170 y 1200). There is a door dead ahead, open it. Kill the Clay Golem within. Then you can search for treasure (trapped!): Bag of Holding (container that holds a lot) Opal Stone (keep this, it's a key, not a gem) Rogue Stone (useful if you want to go in that one Bridge door) Spells - Prismatic Spray (Mage) Arrows (etc.) If you go left from this room, it goes up to a corridor with a big nasty trap that squishes anyone who enters it. So avoid that. Go back to the start, then go up the northwest passage (x 1300 y 1210) and open the door to the right (x 1350 y 960). Kill whatever is in here (Gibberlings). Search the 2 containers in here: Ruby Stone (keep it) Spear +3 Magical Arrows (etc.) - RIDDLES Head west to the next room (x 760 y 1075) and go in. Welcome to the riddle room! In the center is a chest full of bizarre riddly objects. These objects are then placed in the arms of the statue that they solve the riddle for. Starting from just left of the door and going around, the riddles are: Riddle: Answering Object: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- At night I come without being fetched, at Star Medallion day I am gone without being stolen. No beginning. No end. I am a symbol of the Golden Circlet world's cycles. Two brothers we are, great burdens we bear, Worn Out Boots all day we are bitterly pressed; Yet this I will say - we are full all the day, and empty when we go to rest. Here, in this place, you swallow me. Yet, were I Jar of Water more, I could swallow you. I have seen the mountains rise. I have seen the Sundial fall of Netheril. You shall die but still shall I march on. To those within the dungeon I am joy. To those Sun Medallion fully beneath my gaze, I can be Hell. I will save your life but yet can you die by me. I Sword Medallion will settle disputes yet not with words. Name me and so shall you break me. Gagged Man Always do I tell the truth, yet cannot speak. Look Mirror to me and see what really is. I have two heads but one body. The more I stand Hourglass still, the faster I run. Try to defeat me but try in vain. When I win I Grinning Skull end your pain. Complete all the riddles to get 20,000 experience. Then search the center chest again to find: Sapphire Stone (keep it) Dusty Rose Ioun Stone Open the next door (x 875 y 915), and then open the next door to the right (x 1033 y 700). This is the second riddle room. Go up and click each of the faces twice to be teleported into the center. There you will be asked a riddle. Get it right and you are rewarded, get it wrong and you are punished. There are 12 faces and 12 corresponding riddles: Riddle: Answer: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Lighter than what I am made of, more of me is Ice hidden than is seen, I am the bane of the mariner, a tooth within the sea. Speak my name. A spirited jig it dances bright, banishing all Fire but darkest night. Give it food and it will live; give it water and it will die. The man who invented it, doesn't want it for himself. A Coffin The man who bought it, doesn't need it for himself. The man who needs it, doesn't know it when he needs it. The life I lead is mere hours or less, I serve all my A Candle time by being consumed. I am quickest when thin, slowest when fat, and wind is the bane of the gift that I bring. The more that there is, the less that you see. Squint Darkness all you wish when surrounded by me. They come to witness the night without being called, Stars a sailor's guide and a poet's tears. They are lost to sight each day without the hand of a thief. They follow and lead, but only as you pass. Dress Shadows yourself in darkest black, and they are darker still. Always they flee the light, though without the sun there would be none. I have holes throughout, from back to front and top A Sponge to bottom to core. More nothing than something within, and yet I still hold water. I am free for the taking through all of your life, Breath though given but once at birth. I am less than nothing in weight, but will fell the strongest of you if held. Alive as you but without breath, as cold in my life as Fish in my death; never a thirst though I always drink, dressed in a mail but never a clink. Of all your possessions, I am the hardest to guard. If A Secret you have me, you will want to share me. If you share me, you no longer have me. I can have no color, though there may be darkness A Hole within. I have no weight and hold nothing, and if placed in a container it becomes all the lighter. When all 12 riddles are answered, then everyone gets 5000 experience points and you receive: Ring of Regeneration (regenerate 1 HP every 6 seconds) - THE PORTAL Go back to the previous passage, and open the other door (x 750 y 800). Fight the monsters in here (Rakshasa and Mephits). Past them is a big portal. Remember those gems that we gathered that I told you not to put in your gem bag? (Opal Stone, Sapphire Stone and Ruby Stone) They are the key to this portal. Click the portal once and a Greater Wolfwere appears, twice and a Demon appears, three times and a Djinni appears and gives you: Doomplate +3 (Plate Mail AC 0) We are done here, so go back to the start, then take the southeast passage to the next level (x 2100 y 1800). - LEVEL TWO (AR 1513) We start in a room. That is ordinary enough. Just ahead, the room narrows quite suspiciously. When someone goes through that narrow, a gate shuts and lots of Umber Hulks appear in this room and the next. Which means that your party will probably be split in two for this battle. To avoid this fate, I sent out a Wizard Eye to scout out the area, it triggered the gate and left my entire party on one side. You can also have a thief pick the lock on the gate to open it. One "Death Spell" will clear this room out. Prepare yourself for a big battle with a Lich. Wander down the passage to the first door (x 2100 y 1800) and go in it. Here you will find the aforementioned Lich and his undead buddies (Greater Mummies and Skeletal Warriors). With Protective Spells active, you shouldn't lose any people (or if you do, you shouldn't lose too many). Keep the Liches defenses down by Breaching, Piercing Magic, etc. Also make sure you have good undead fighting weapons equipped (Daystar, Mace of Disruption, etc.) Liches are worth 22,000 experience. After the battle you can search the pots here for some minor treasures (Cleric's Staff +3, etc.). Enter the room right here, and search it for treasure. (spells and gold mostly, as well as some arrows) Head further down the passage, it turns to the west. Follow it to the door (x 1050 y 2070). Open it to find Dace, a vampire. This ends in a battle. Kill him and he retreats to his coffin. Then you stake him to get his Hand (the object we need to escape this place). If you don't have stakes, then when you go by the library again, he reappears inside and tells you that your job is half finished. You can find a Stake later on in this level when you get to the Kobold Shamans. (the SECOND group of kobolds that appears... the one with the staff has the Stake) - KOBOLDS Back to the main passage, then continue north to the next room. (x 3000 y 1100) I found a Wandering Horror here to fight. There are also 3 containers in here with spells (Simulacrum, etc.) and other minor treasures. Open the next door. In the middle of this room (x 2340 y 515) you will find a book on a pedestal. Click it twice to turn the page. Each time you do this it summons forth a "bloodthirsty" monster: Kobold Captain Sword Spider Umber Hulk Mind Flayer Beholder Treasures: Ring of Free Action Spells - Simulacrum Summon Fiend Search the wall (x 2030 y 520) for a secret door, open it and go through. This is the Kobold/Imp room. Past this is the Crystal Room, which also has the Kobold Witch Doctor. More Kobolds will appear around the Crystal, and summon forth its "defenders" (more kobolds... and one xvart looking guy). When they are dead, you get a Piece of the Crystal. You may need to click the crystal to get the second group to appear. Go back to the book room, open the door and go up the stairs. - THE GIANT STATUE HEAD Go now to the southwest passage again to the big giant statue head. Talk to it with both the Crystal from the Kobolds and the Hand from Dace to get it to open the passage. For this everyone gets 29,500 experience. The head opens its mouth, and you can now enter the door behind it. (x 470 y 1890) Trick: You may be able to talk to it again and again to get more experience. Cornelius Chesterfield did it 6 times. - FINAL LEVEL (AR 1514) There are two doors to the right, we want to take the bottom one (x 630 y 820). Open the secret door to the right (x 820 y 1020). Inside is a switch, click twice to open the secret door to the left (x 560 y 1020). Within here are a group of trolls (including one 12,000 exp troll). Search the nearby pot to find: 2 Mithril Tokens (used later to gain an item) Spell - Breach Arrows +2 Back to the passage, and take it down to the next door (x 650 y 1500). There are Minotaurs (3000 exp) in here. Near the door we came in is a pot: 2 Mithril Tokens (so we have 4 total now) Spell - Sunfire Bolts +2 Gold Open the door at the top of the room (x 1000 y 1450) and go in. Search the pool in the center of the room to find: Minotaur's Horn (used much later) 2 Mithril Tokens (6 total) Mind Flayer Painting There are 3 statues in this room, each of which has another "monster" painting. So click on each statue twice to get their painting. They WILL shoot spells at you, no matter what you do. Once you have the 4 paintings, head back to the beginning room. Then open the top door (x 900 y 650), go through the passage and open that door too. - THE PAINTED DOORS This leads to a room full of monsters (for me it was Yuan-ti) that must be dispatched before anything can be done. There are then four doors in here, each with a picture of a monster on it that corresponds with one of the paintings we got. From left to right: Mind Flayer - 11,000 experience Flame of the North (2Hnd +2, 10% magic res., +4 vs Evil) Spirit Troll - 8000 experience Katana +2: Malakar (+2 AC vs. Slashing weapons) Umber Hulk - 10,000 experience Djinni - 10,000 experience Bloodstone Amulet The Umber Hulk door leads to the next passage to go in. There were a number of Wolfwere's in this passage. Go up and search the pot (x 2280 y 185): Gems Arrows (Bolts and Bullets) Spell - Phantom Blade Then enter the room to the right. In this room you will find 3 Clay Golems guarding the one treasure chest there. Funky. When you take the items from the chest, the door slams shut and the Clay Golems attack. Make sure you have Blunt weapons. Then I would kill the Clay Golems first (Fake Talk works fine) and then unlock and take the treasures: 4 Mithril Tokens (10 total) Gesen Bow String (final part of the powerful Gesen Bow) Gem Back into the passage, now take the southern door (x 2025 y 515). I found a Stone Golem in here. Search the table: 3 Mithril Tokens (13 total) Gold Lots and lots of throwing darts and axes And also search the pot to the left: 2 Mithril Tokens (15 total) Gems Throwing Items Spell - Maze Open the next door to the south to find the Vending Machine. This is the reason we are collecting Mithril Tokens. Depending on how many tokens are put in, you get a treasure: 5 Tokens - Boots of the North (50% cold resistance) 10 Tokens - Boots of Grounding (50% electrical resistance) 15 Tokens - Boots of Speed (Haste permanently on user) 20 Tokens - Jester's Chain +4 (AC 1) Right now you should have 15 tokens. There are more than can be found throughout the level. I found the Jester's Chain to be quite useless, so I would get the Boots of Speed. Then later come back and spend whatever tokens you have on the Boots of the North. (If you plan to come back, you should probably mark it on your map) - THE ORB ROOM Go back to the beginning, then back down the bottom passage to the Minotaur room. (x 933 y 1667) Open the door on the southeast wall. This passage leads to another door, which opens up to the Orb Room. There are 4 orbs in here that will cast a spell on whoever is standing on the mosaic in the center of the room. From left to right the Orbs cast: Slow (x 1400 y 1575) Heal (x 1500 y 1500) Haste (x 1750 y 1525) Lightning Bolt (x 1850 y 1600) A great place to Heal people, but the Haste Orb is probably more useful. Head up the next passage. - BODHI AND THE (VAMPIRE) SLAYER Within the next room is a giant minotaur statue, some vampires, and, oh, Bodhi. She has decided to kill you once and for all, well before you were supposed to meet (at least that is what I got out of that conversation). A battle breaks out, but quickly, the main character changes into the Slayer. This rightly freaks Bodhi out and she flees taking her vampire cronies with her. Which leaves you as the Slayer, and you aren't entirely in control of your power. Keep everyone else in the party away from the Slayer else they might get killed by it. Your party members will rightly comment on this when you revert to normal. The Slayer is the Avatar form (mortal form) of Bhaal and if you are turning into Bhaal... The next time you rest after this, you turn in the Slayer again, and chase someone in your party around (possibly the person you are in a romance with). You may even end out killing them. The next time you sleep after that, you MAY get the Slayer Dream, where you gain the ability to change into the Slayer. The cost of turning into the Slayer is a reputation loss of 2 points. Also you cannot stay the Slayer for too long else you will die. (It says "you feel yourself losing control" when it gets close) - ESCAPE THE DUNGEON Open the door to your left (x 1965 y 1150). There will probably be a Minotaur here to kill. Then search the pool near the door: 4 Mithril Tokens (19 total) Gold Spell - Chain Lightning If you go further up this passage you will find a Gauth (small green Beholder like creature, worth 9000 exp) and more Minotaurs. No treasure. Back to the Statue room. Now take the lower right passage. (x 2330 y 1425) This leads to a small room with yet more Minotaurs. When they are dead, search the pot to find: Minotaur Horn (used on the statue) 2 Mithril Tokens (21 total) Spell - Limited Wish Gold Arrows You now have all the Mithril Tokens in the game, so you can go back to the Vending Machine and get whatever you want from it. Put the Horns on the Minotaur Statue (everyone gets 29,500 experience) to open the exit. Go out. - THE CHALLENGES Oh, but we aren't free yet! You will be in a small circular room with 6 enemies, goblins and hobgoblins for you to kill. Once they are dead, the Tester Apparition appears to administer the test to you. These tests have right and wrong answers, a right answer makes your life easier (sends you to an easier area) and a wrong answer makes your life a little harder. I will document only the easy path (although the hard path has nothing special in it): Agree to take the test and you will be teleported to a small room with a Spore Colony. Kill it. Answer the next question with 'Splinter,' and be teleported to a room with a table: Cloak of Reflection (reflects electrical damage back to source) Then talk to the Apparitions around the table and answer their riddles: Rich have need of it, poor have it: Nothing Runs as it wills: A River Dwell with weak, rarely brave: Fear Shines laughter or tears: Memory Note: If you messed up the 'table riddlers' last question (memory) you will be teleported to a room with a machine. The correct order of the machine is: 1. Mithril 2. Ruby 3. Emerald 4. Sandalwood 5. Jade 6. Onyx This will get you a Bracers AC 5. [from Redd Barren] This takes us to the Troll room. Kill the three trolls you find and take from one of them a Head. Go up and the Apparition will appear and mention that this room isn't part of the test. Tell him you'd like to stay. Then put the Head in the Troll Altar. This gets you the: Bone Club +2, +3 vs. Undead Talk to the Apparition to get out. You will then be judged. If you took the Easy Path (the one I just described) then everyone in your party gets 51,250 experience points. If you took a harder path, then he teleports in a Mind Flayer for you to fight. (Everyone then gets 41,250 experience on the harder path) There is one thing of Minor Treasure (x 970 y 380), but nothing important. Leave this area. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.3 [SCPFRS] Escape from Spellhold ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- Once you return to the Asylum, you will be met by Saemon (the captain who brought you to Brynnlaw, if you forgot). He offers you one sage bit of advice, get the deviant mages to help you defeat Irenicus. Walkthrough: ------------ - GAIN ALLIES TO FIGHT IRENICUS Avoid the big room in the middle of this area for the moment, if you go in there you WILL be destroyed by Irenicus (it's not even a fight! He just kills you!). There are some minor treasures in a northern room (x 1720 y 550). Open the door at (x 1400 y 400) and go up the stairs. You will immediately meet up with Lonk the Sane. Convince him to free the inmates (one way or another). Then convince the Inmates that Irenicus should be killed and they will teleport you into his room downstairs. Quickly a fight between you and him breaks out. This battle is one of the larger battles in the game, as not only do you have Irenicus to face, but soon he summons forth a small army (of clones that look like your party) to help him. Plus you have allies in the Deviants (so, if it says "Wanev casts Death Spell on Mazzy", it means that he is casting that on your evil clone). Defeat Irenicus and everyone in your party gets 68,500 experience. Irenicus flees, leaving you to face another group of "murderers". (thieves mostly) Tip: At this point, you could close the door, preventing the thieves from entering. Then you could rest and prepare to face them. You could also trap the outside of the room first, so that they get killed before attacking you. If Yoshimo betrayed you, then he enters the scene after this and will attack you. Kill him and take his heart. This heart will allow you to undo the Geas on Yoshimo and give him peace in death. To do that you have to take the heart to a temple of Ilmater (there's one on top of the Copper Coronet, and another in Waukeen's Promenade). - ESCAPE FROM SPELLHOLD Go back upstairs. Follow the passage up and left to find Saemon again. He says that he wants to help you and that he knows a way out. You have three options here: one, trust him and go with him; two, kill him; and three don't kill him and enter the portal downstairs. Do the first one, trust him and he will teleport you outside. He goes to town and tells you to follow. Don't, re-enter the Asylum. Note: If you take the Portal you will skip the Sahuagin City (and its wonderful treasures). No matter which you choose, you will end out in the Underdark eventually. Enter Irenicus' Office (x 1550 y 1000). There was a Stone Golem here. Search the dresser for: Staff of Thunder and Lightning Search the desk for: The Complete Journal of Jon Irenicus (parts 1 and 2) Go into the next room. Search the cabinet on the wall: Horn of Silence Then search the drawers south of the bed for: Rogue Stone Jon's Key (if you took the portal in the basement, this would open the secret door, but don't do that) Leave the Asylum and head back to Brynnlaw. - ESCAPE FROM BRYNNLAW Go to the Vulgar Monkey Tavern and talk to Saemon again. His ship was destroyed by the pirate lord (who probably had good reasons for doing that). What he needs is for you to steal the Pirate Horn for him so that you can steal one of the Pirate Lord's ships. Without the horn you will not make it out of the harbor. He offers you the Vorpal Blade in exchange for doing this. You will find the Horn on the lord's mistress Cayia at night. Go to Cayia's house (x 615 y 1475) at night, enter. After listening to Cayia and her current lover's pillow talk, they call the guards and flee. Kill the pirates, then search her Table to find the Pirate Horn (and another Rogue Stone). Leave her house. Head over to the Pirate Ship (x 1700 y 1900) where a group of pirates will attempt to enslave you as a rower. Disabuse them of that notion. Continue east to find Saemon (x 2950 y 2500), and talk to him. This gets you aboard the ship, but soon the Pirate Lord tracks you down. There is a bit of a scene, and Desharik, the Pirate Lord, even kills his own mistress, Cayia. Saemon, ever courageous asks you to kill Desharik for him. Kill the pirates and Saemon rewards you with: Silver Blade (part of the Vorpal Sword) The ship casts off... - THE GITHYANKI INCURSION Soon the ship is overrun by Giths looking for their sacred Blade. Although Saemon tries to get a non-violent solution to this, it isn't meant to be and a battle soon breaks out. You have a very brief window to kill Saemon, if you want (18,000 experience). Soon this battle is forced to a conclusion when the Sahuagin capsize the ship sending everyone overboard... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.4 [SHGNCT] Sahuagin City (AR 2300) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- Welcome to the underwater city. At first you cannot understand what they are saying, but soon they cast a spell that allows you to hear them. They don't seem hostile (for once). They tell you that your coming was prophesized (they usually eat surfacers that they capture). Their city will be destroyed lest you save them. Go willingly for the moment, as you are best served by listening. Paul Dickinson points out: In the Sahuagin City, I discovered that I was able to sell gems to the temple for 4/3 of the price at which they could be bought back. For example, I could sell a rogue stone for 4000 gold, and buy it back for 3000. At this time I had 18 charisma and 20 reputation. I could've had unlimited gold here, but that seemed to be cheating, so I just sold my rogue stone collection and left it at that. This place also has a nice collection of spells to buy with all the money from gems. Gunslinger notes: You can pickpocket the key to the treasury of the Sahaugin city from the King, along with the rope needed to descend to the Underdark (Now you can leave without even caring about the issues of the Sahaugin people). Walkthrough: ------------ - THE CHALLENGE You are brought before their King, who soon enough asks you whether you are the surfacers of prophecy. It doesn't matter what you say as they think the same thing of you in any case. Accept their challenge to fight one of their slaves. You are set to fight an Ettin, nothing that challenging. Kill it (5000 experience) to prove that you are indeed the prophesized one. The losing priestess is sacrificed, and you are told about the Sahuagin Rebels. The King wishes the Rebels to be exterminated, while the priestess who sponsored you wishes them to be negotiated with. Agree to the King's demands to bring back the heart of the Rebel Prince to him. The Priestess wishes to speak with you before you leave to go do the deed. Head over to the temple (x 1335 y 225) and you can watch the losing priestess get sacrificed. Then she gives you a couple of jobs to do, first retrieve a Tooth from a Drow temple. This will allow you to leave the city later, and second to try to get the Rebels back in power within the city. In other words, to do the opposite of what the King asked you to do. Agree to do that as well and she gives you an orb that the Prince will recognize. Now you have a choice of which plots to do, kill the Prince or kill the King. - THE DROW TEMPLE Head down then right (x 1350 y 1900). You will be warned of Drow in the area. Continue right, then down (careful to look for traps). You will bump into some spiders. Continue south and take out the Bone Golem (x 940 y 3470). Go left (careful to look for traps), then up. Several Imps here have a game they want you to play in order to get the Drow treasure. They will create images of 5 famous people of the realms in front of 5 chests. Each person has a treasure. What you need to do is gather these treasures, then put them in the chest behind the person they belong to. Oh, and this entire platform needs to be deTRAPPED. Needs: Has: ------------------------------------------------------ Alustriel - Pendant Elminster's Pipe Drizzt - Scimitar Piergeiron's Helmet Elminster - Pipe Drizzt's Scimitar Khelben - Staff Alustriel's Pendant Piergeiron - Helmet Khelben's Staff Once all the items are in their proper place, the Imps open the final chest. For this everyone in your party gets 18,500 experience. Within the chest you will find: Boots of Etherealness Cloak of Protection +2 Continue up the passage until a Beholder named Spectator appears. Talk to him. He doesn't have a great existence as he was set to guard the treasure chest behind him for 99 years. If you try to take the items in the chest, he will attack you. But, you need the item. So, ask him if there's no way that you could see the item. With a bit of verbal wrangling (either you must have Cernd, Haer'Dalis, or Edwin in your party or have at least 13 Wisdom yourself) he agrees to let you check inside the chest. Open it and grab the tooth. Spectator seems disappointed in it, and leaves. (15,000 exp) Note: Or you can have anyone with at least 13 Wisdom talk to the Spectator. - ENTER THE REBEL BASE Head all the way north (x 2680 y 50). Then go right until you reach the stairs (x 4600 y 1200). Don't worry about killing the rebels on the way there, they're insignificant. Go down the stairs. Go through this ambush to the doors (x 3700 y 2340). Here you find the Sahuagin Chieftain who will take you to see the Rebel Prince (if you have the Priestess' Orb, that is). - SIDE WITH THE PRINCE Now you have to make a choice which side to go with. On the one hand you can go with the Prince's schemes, accept the Fake Heart and give that to the King. (if you want to do it the other way, see below) If you have a Monk, I would recommend siding with the King. Take the Heart over to the King and give it to him. He does fall for it and would reward you. Then the Prince and his goons attack the city and you are forced into combat with the king. Kill the king to get his items: The Impaler Spear +3, +10 piercing damage Key to Treasury (etc.) The Prince then enters and takes control of the city. He then rewards you for your efforts: 60,500 experience for each person Magical Rope Go over and open the treasury (x 460 y 670) to loot the contents: Rod of Lordly Might Magical Rope Spell - Protection from the Elements Of course, now you can also double cross the prince and kill him. That way you can still get the Wave Blade (you could probably also pickpocket it off him, but Imoen has a horrible Pickpocket rating, so if you have her, you probably can't do that). - SIDE WITH THE KING Or, you can assault the rebel prince and take his real heart. He also has some treasure on him: Wave Blade (part of the Wave Halberd) The Impaler Spear +3, +10 piercing damage Return to the King with the Heart and he will take you to the entrance to the underdark. He also gives you a fairly generous reward: Gauntlets of Crushing (+4 to THAC0, DMG, for unarmed combat) Rod of Lordly Might (can change into different weapons) Magical Rope 2000 gold 58,500 experience for each character In case you are wondering, you get nothing for turning in the Priestess. Also, the King vanishes so you can neither talk to him again nor double cross him and kill him. - LEAVE FOR THE UNDERDARK Once you are done here, you will be shown to the exit. Simply go down. Quests: ------- OTHER: The Cloak of Mirroring Fish Head - Sahuagin City (AR 2300, x 2350 y 1140) There are many rebels throughout the city, and one of them has the fabled Cloak of Mirroring on his person. Head to the giant Fish Head, and stand in the center. You will then be ambushed by several Sahuagin, one of which has the cloak. The cloak reflects spells back to their source. OTHER: Sea Zombie Lord Zombie Lord - Sahuagin City (AR 2300, x 2630 y 3120) One of the stranger sights to see in the city is a bloody pit filled with zombies and the Zombie Lord. (6000 exp) Not worth much in terms of experience OR treasure, but it is interesting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. [THNDRK] Chapter 5: The Underdark (AR 2100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- If you took the portal from Irenicus' basement, you will come straight here. The other way here is from the Sahuagin City. You get to watch as Irenicus has sided with the Drow to defeat the surface elves. An ... interesting alliance to say the least. Walkthrough: ------------ - FIND TRACES OF IRENICUS Walk east and a little south (x 1600 y 3700) to find a group of Duergar. These are traders, and they have seen Irenicus and Bodhi hanging around the Drow city, but believe that you wouldn't be able to simply walk into the city (and trust me, you can't). One of them thinks he has a better way. Then you get to shop if you want. (You can also do the Imprisoned Mage quest while here) Note: The Duergar merchants to the south offer a selection of scrolls for you to buy... but they're holding out on you. Go back to them sometime during your Ust Natha quests (when you are spelled to look like drow) and demand to see their wares. The selection now includes a handful of high level scrolls that wasn't there the first time. Nothing too special, but helpful if you need them. [from zambkptkn] Head north, through the Drow, then west, through the Myconids and north to get to the Svirfneblin city. (x 630 y 1135) The Deep Gnomes want you to talk to their leader, and say you "could be useful." Enter the city, go around the passage, south, then west. There are two rooms here, and the leader is in the right room. Go in and talk to him. He wants you to deal with an otherworldly creature that they accidentally dug up, and in exchange he agrees to help you get into the Drow city to hunt Irenicus. Within a deep dark cave is a creature called Adalon, who can help you enter the city. However, you can't get in her cave without getting a gem from the gnomes. (Svirfneblin is another name for "Deep Gnome") Agree to help them with their demon problem for the gem. (Of course, if you were Evil, you could just kill him and take the gem... IF you were evil) Note: Gunslinger mentions that you could just pick this gnome's pocket to get the gem... he won't like it, but then, you don't need his approval for anything. - DEFEAT THE GNOME'S DEMON He tells you that the demon can be found in the new passage to the northeast. You will find the passage at (x 3600 y 600). Talk to the guard there to open the door. When you are ready, click on the pit and the Balor will appear. He requires about a +3 weapon to hit. (But if you followed this walkthrough, you should have several +3 or better weapons by this point) Kill him to get 26,000 experience. But we aren't done yet! Oh no. Put that scroll (that the gnome gave you) in someone's Quick Item slot, and use it. That seals up the hole. Head back to the leader Gnome to get your reward: Mace +3, Skullcrusher (extra damage to Humanoids) Light Gem 25,000 experience for each character - TALK TO ADALON Leave the city, then head eastwards. You may have to fight through the Kuo-toa's, but possibly not. Then you go north to get to the bridge (x 3950 y 1890). When you cross this bridge, a Drow war party ambushes you. Make sure that everyone who can, is wearing some of the spiffy Drow armor. (Spiffy) This path then splits into two groups, take the left path. (x 4100 y 1200) Enter the cave. This is the lair of the Silver Dragon Adalon. (If you are evil, and need Silver Dragon's Blood to make the "Human Leather Armor"... WAIT and do it later!) Go down and talk to her. She wants your help (of course). Her eggs were stolen by the Drow to keep her from interfering with them as they invaded the surface for Irenicus. In exchange for this she will help you get out of the Underdark to chase Irenicus at your leisure. To assist with that goal, she casts a powerful illusion on your party making them all appear to be Drow. - ENTER THE DROW CITY, UST NATHA Leave the cave, go down then take the other passage up to the Drow Gates. The gates will automatically open and a Drow guard confronts you. Be confidant and tell them that you are "Veldrin from Ched Nassad". You are told to be in the Males Fighters Society within three days. Enter Ust Natha. Quests: ------- OTHER: Mind Flayers Mind Flayers - Underdark (AR 2100, x 200 y 2650) Just north of where you first enter the area you will find some Mind Flayers. These three goons make for good practice at fighting them, which you might need if you want to take on the Illithid city. (9000 exp each) OTHER: First Drow Battle Drow - Underdark (AR 2100, x 1735 y 2170) The first real battle against the drow occurs just north of the point where you free Vithal (see the next quest below). Drow fight well with magic, summoning creatures to help them defeat you and casting spells fairly intelligently. The most notable thing about them is their Drow Armor, which you should definitely take. Drow Full Plate +5 is the best armor in the game. It will dissolve when taken to the surface, but that will still give you a lot of good use with it. QUEST: The Imprisoned Mage Uder Mordin - Underdark (AR 2100, x 1770 y 3800) Mage - Underdark (AR 2100, x 1930 y 2090) Svirfneblin - Underdark (AR 2100, x 1633 y 750) Vithal (later) - Underdark (AR 2100, x 2375 y 3320) Talking with the last Duergar, Uder Mordin, he brings up the story of a mage who was imprisoned in the earth after a battle. Seems this fellow was looking for some artifact of importance. Talk to the seller Duergar and buy a Freedom Scroll. Don't scribe this to your spellbook, simply cast the spell, then move north to find the mage. (10,000 experience) Talk with Vithal to learn that he was searching for a great treasure of some sort. He asks for your help in completing his work. Agree. He wants you to fetch his Book of Rituals from the Svirfneblin. The Svirfneblin city can be found at the top left of the area. You will find the book on the Innkeeper in the left room of their city. You can buy it off him for 300 gold. If you are currently in Drow form (having already been to Adalon) then you get the book for free. You will find Vithal standing just northeast of the Duergar position near one of the three portals in the area. Talk to him and give him the book of rituals. Agree to help him out. Then a Greater Earth Elemental (10,000 experience) appears. Keep it from killing Vithal. Then Vithal enters the portal. Wait a moment, then he reappears and tells you to come to the Fire Gate, which is just above this gate. Talk to him again. A Greater Fire Elemental (10,000 experience) appears. Same thing happens with Vithal entering the portal. Then you go leftwards to the Air gate. Talk to Vithal again and the same thing happens with a Greater Air Elemental this time. (11,000 experience) When Vithal returns (everyone gets 20,000 experience) he offers you some treasure: Rod of Absorption If you complain, he will give you a couple of spells (Simulacrum and Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting). If you complain further he will attack you. Try to beat him quickly to avoid his Imprisonments. Vithal - 20,000 experience Skull of Death (Helm, casts Death Spell) Spells - Wail of the Banshee Incendiary Cloud Time Stop Infravision QUEST: The Giant Soul Gem Gem - Underdark (AR 2100, x 1940 y 1860) Dagglefodd - Underdark (AR 2100, x 1770 y 610) Just left of center in this area is a giant soul gem. This gem has 6 facets, when each facet is manipulated a new monster is freed. These will then fight you. From left to right: Facet 1 (x 1845 y 1862) - Madman Aganalo - 6000 experience Jhor the Bleeder (Bastard Sw +2) Facet 2 (x 1872 y 1901) - Raevilin Strathi - 20,000 experience Spells (summoning) Facet 3 (x 1920 y 1920) - Riti - 8000 experience Spear +3, Backbiter (Cursed) Spells - Improved Haste Facet 4 (x 1980 y 1920) - Alchra Diagott (Lich) - 22,000 exp Spells - Summon Nishruu Delayed Blast Fireball Spell Turning Facet 5 (x 2025 y 1885) - Bedlen Dagglefodd (don't attack him) Facet 6 (x 2035 y 1850) - Gont of Riatavin - 7000 experience (if you let him go, you get nothing but advice) Note: In the Underdark Soul Machine, there is a mad wizard called Raevilin Strathi, who attacks you. His head has been stuffed up, and if you cast the cleric spell Heal on him, he will come to his senses, and give you the sword Albruin +1 as a reward. [from John Howard] Then talk to the elder Dagglefodd up in the Svirfneblin city to get an extra reward: Bracers AC 4 10,000 experience He will also sell you items from then on (not that he has anything that good). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.1 [STNTHA] Ust Natha (Drow City) (AR 2200) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- When you enter the city you get to watch a little display between a Drow and his slave. He kills the slave, and is in turn killed by his mother. This just emphasizes that Drow are evil. Really evil. Do NOT reveal yourselves as "non-drow" or the entire city becomes hostile. Worse than that, they might seal you in. Walkthrough: ------------ - GETTING ESTABLISHED IN THE CITY We are here to do one thing and one thing only, get the Silver Dragon eggs to give to Adalon. In order to do that we need to keep our ears to the ground and search for information. Also we need to ally ourselves with a Family. Once we are allied then the quests become available (for instance, you can't "Free the Humans" until you have become allied). Head over to the Male Fighter's Society (x 3535 y 1650). Here you will meet up with Solaufein. He asks for your name, tell him that it doesn't matter what your name is and he will be amused and like you more for it. He tells you that you are going to be working for the Matron Mothers, and to meet up with her handmaiden on a platform near the entrance. From this point you have three days to get to that platform and meet with the Handmaiden. On your way back to the entrance, you will see a meeting between some Mind Flayers (Ambassadors, no less) and Drow. This isn't particularly important, but it is interesting. Go to the platform. (x 1550 y 3300) Talk to Solaufein again. He explains that some "devourers" have taken a priestess hostage. He asks if you know what those are: Int 15+ - You can say "Illithid" and Solaufein likes you more Int 9 to 14 - You can say "Mind Flayers" and nothing happens Int 8 or less - You say "Otyugh" and Solaufein likes you less "I don't know" - nothing happens You are to rescue that Drow from the Illithid before they take her to their city. You have three days. - RESCUE PHAERE FROM THE ILLITHIDS So, exit the city, and head south. I encountered an adventuring group, that naturally assumed that I was evil. (x 3300 y 2225) One of these goons has: Dragons Breath, Halberd +4 (+1 ice, fire, elec., poison & acid dmg) Continue south, then cross the bridge to find Solaufein (x 4715 y 3100). He asks if you have any questions. If you apologize to him, he will like you more. After which he tells you to get ready for battle. Cast all your protective spells (Protection from Evil is very useful) and get ready for combat with some Mind Flayers. You must fight 3 Mind Flayers as well as 2 Umber Hulks. I would take out the Flayers first, one at a time, then the Hulks. After the battle, Phaere (whom you just rescued) sort of thanks you. (20,000 experience) Nothing you say to Phaere matters. They both go back to the city. You have three days to go back and talk with Solaufein again. Battle Tip: Death Spell will annihilate your enemies here. Don't assume it will always work on Mind Flayers, it won't. It works here because these Mind Flayers are considered by the game to be "summoned." - WORKING FOR HOUSE DESPANA Enter the tavern and find Phaere and Solaufein. Phaere automatically talks to you and asks you to join forces with her house. Respond to this in the affirmative (say "yes")... you can also intimate that you would rather have her as a reward (if you know what I mean), but that has some bad consequences if you are currently in a romance with someone else. She wants you to meet her at the same platform as before... but not right now. For now she wants you to enjoy yourself in the Tavern. (see the Quests below if you need something to do) When she leaves the Tavern you have 3 days to get to the Platform. Get to the Platform and talk with Phaere. She tells you that a Beholder is in the city smuggling Adamantite. She wants you to go over there and kill it. Solaufein and her will scout it out ahead of time. You will find Phaere again in the Southeast part of the city (x 4200 y 3340). Talk with her to get the battle rolling. Kill the Beholder (14,000 exp) and Solaufein seems happy about things. Phaere mentions that the body is going to be collected for... other uses (20,000 exp). Phaere tells you to visit her in the tavern within 3 days. - DROW VS. SVIRFNEBLIN Phaere wants you and Solaufein to attack a Deep Gnome patrol to keep them properly fearful of the Drow. Solaufein naturally hates being sent on such stupid missions, especially given how weak the Gnomes are. You will meet up with Solaufein west of Ust Natha near the gnomish city. (x 890 y 2225) Talk to Solaufein. If Solaufein likes you, you can convince him to let you handle this on your own. At that point he goes back to the city. (of course, if you have been cheesing him off, then he won't leave) The Gnome Patrol arrives, tell them that you were sent to kill them, and that you won't. Then ask for their helmets as a sign that the deed was done. Head back to the tavern. - PHAERE Phaere is pleased that you brought her the helmet, and asks that you meet her in her chambers at the Female Fighters guild within ONE HOUR. (everyone gets 28,000 experience) Head over to the Female Fighters (x 2500 y 2050), enter and talk with Phaere. She wants Solaufein dead. Why? Lover's quarrel. She wants you to enter his home in the Male Fighters guild, kill him, and take his Piwafwi Cloak as proof of his death. Agree to her demands. You now have 3 days to get to Solaufein. (x 3500 y 1575) Talk to Solaufein and tell him that you were sent to kill him, but that you don't want to do it. Then ask him for his Piwafwi Cloak as proof that he is "dead." Solaufein has a little speech, and he likes you more. You can then search his place, but there is nothing good here. Evil Alternative: [from Cyrille Artho] When you kill Solaufein, he obviously cannot give you his fake dragon eggs, which you normally use to trick Phaere. However, not everything is lost. When you give the real dragon eggs to Phaere, there are three possible outcomes: 1) You interrupt the ritual (bad idea). Matron Ardulace then casts a spell that reveals the true identity of the party, and you are chased out of the city. It will be rather difficult to recover the eggs and kill all the drows. 2) You let the ritual be completed. a) You prevent Phaere from handing over the eggs to the Demon Lord (good idea). The Demon Lord then attacks everybody. He does not have many hit points but you need a +5 weapon to hit -- which you probably don't have at that point (unless you have a Paladin with the Holy Avenger). A cleric with four Bolts of Glory (10d6 damage to demons) works well enough, since that spell ignores magic resistance (which is 95 or 100% for the Demon Lord). Killing the demon lord gives 26000 exp. Pray that his initial "Wail of the Banshee" does not kill anybody; if it does, *hurry* and don't try to re-equip everything perfectly -- just get your stuff and leave *quickly*! If nobody is killed, you actually even have time to sell Phaere's gems to the drow before they all turn red and try to kill you. Incidentally, "Protection from Evil" will not prevent the Demon Lord from casting his first attack spell, but he will not attack you immediately. Also, I could still get out of the city just after the drow turned hostile -- probably it takes a few seconds until the city gates are locked. b) You let Phaere give the eggs to the demon lord (bad idea). He (being a mean guy) reveals the true identity of the party. Immediately, all drows turn hostile and attack the party. Again, this way is not the best (you will also have to deal with an angry silver dragon then). Note: If you have recovered the eggs, don't talk to Adalon -- otherwise you can never kill her for her blood (because she'll teleport you away). Instead, attack her right away. This gives you less experience and no crossbow +3, only some gold and a scroll that allows you to proceed to chapter 6 :-( Personal note: I found it a pity that evil parties cannot let the drow ritual take place as planned - a duel between the silver dragon and the demon lord would have been a grand sight. Also, the story is not very logical in the sense that the drow attack still happens, despite the loss of their leaders (and a few powerful warriors due to duels in the tavern and mysterious murderers) and not having the demon on their side. No surprise, they lose. /End of the Evil Alternative Report back to Phaere. (everyone gets 30,000 experience) If you are male then she wants to talk to you alone... for a little nooky. If you refuse her, she will sound the alarm and the entire city turns hostile. Of course, you could try to convince her that you "*really* can't", i.e. are impotent. In order to pull off one of these deceptions you need either 17 INT or 13 CHA (and in some cases 17 CHA). After that (whether you talked your way out of it, did it, or didn't get offered because you are female) she wants you to meet the Matron Ardulace Despana, who is currently in the Temple. You have 3 days to get there (everything takes 3 days, for some reason). Oh, and if you did sleep with Phaere, then anyone you had a romance with is upset with you. - MATRON ARDULACE Head down to the Temple of Lolth (x 4200 y 2350). Enter, and walk forward until you find Phaere, who will automatically talk to you and introduce you to the Matron. The Matron wants you to prove yourself to her, and in order to do that you must bring back the Blood of one of the "noble races", which are Beholders, Mind Flayers or Kuo-Toa's. Oh, and it can't be any of them, it must be something special. So, depending on what you want to do: Beholders go to the next section "Beholder City" Mind Flayers go to the section after that "The Illithid Lair" or the easiest Kuo-Toa's "Exit from the Underdark" If you don't retrieve one of these items in a timely fashion, (three days) then Phaere will track you down (wherever you may be) and tell you that your disguise has failed, thus instigating a battle (and forevermore keeping you out of Ust Natha). So don't waste time. Come back when you have one of these items and she will take them and reward you with 22,000 experience for each character. Phaere then asks to see you in her rooms, within one hour. (she lives in the Female Fighter's Society, if you have forgotten) - THE DRAGON'S EGGS Phaere details her plans to overthrow the Matron Ardulace and set herself up as head of the house. She wants your help in this, so agree to help her get rid of the Matron. House Despana is going to use the Blood you collected along with the Silver Dragon's Eggs to summon a demon. What Phaere wants to do is replace the Eggs with false ones so that Ardulace is destroyed when the demon is summoned. She can then use the real eggs to gain control of the demon. She gives you a key and a set of false eggs marked as "Phaere's". Leave her house. Return to the Temple as that is where the eggs are kept. If you did well by Solaufein, he will appear near the entrance with a further proposition for you. He wants to give you a second set of false eggs that you can give to Phaere. This way both the Matron and Phaere get killed by the Demon. Agree to his plan and enter the temple. Brian Camley has an interesting strategy for the temple: While I was in Ust Natha, and was sent to retrieve and replace the dragon's eggs, I really didn't feel like fighting Drow and Golems, so I saw if SpookyScarecrow's trick for the Golems in the De'Arnise Hold would work in this case - I gave Aerie the Boots of Speed, and had her cast Sanctuary. She got in and out quickly - this works for most encounters with guards of some sort - the exception being, of course, getting the Gesen Bow String - using this strategy will leave your cleric trapped in a room with some angry guardians. Not a good idea. Once in the temple, take the passage immediately to your right, and take that up to the Egg Room (x 2067 y 780). Kill the 2 guards and enter. There are 5 Golems in here, just waiting to pounce on you once you have taken the eggs. Kill the Golems. Take the Real Eggs and REPLACE THEM with PHAERE'S EGGS. (don't forget to do that!) Back to Phaere's. Give her Solaufein's Eggs (20,000 experience) and she seems awfully pleased. Well, that won't last. Listen to the Imp when it appears, then get back to the Temple. Phaere is right within the first passage and soon the Ritual of Summoning begins. The Demon kills the two Drow women one by one, then will leave if you remain silent. (25,000 quest experience -- not verified) Be sure to search the two corpses for treasure: Ring of Spell Turning Gorgon Plate +4 Lots of Gems 4500 gold Evil Alternative: [from Daniel Pang] In the Drow City, if you give the Demon lord the real eggs after Phaere and Ardulace are gone you can ask him for a tithe in return. Asking him for a powerful magical item yields the Halberd +4: Blackmist, and asking him for safe exit from the Underdark will get you just that. Ask him for anything else however, and he attacks you. Now, QUICKLY, leave the Temple and get OUT of the city as fast as is humanly possible. If you delay, you will be trapped in the city forever. (Actually, in that case, you simply have to kill everyone in the city, then you can leave) Return to Adalon and give her the real eggs. She gives you an Item: Necaradan's Crossbow +3 78,500 experience (for each character) And you are then teleported to the Exit from the Underdark. The gate out is just to the left, but you can explore around if you didn't already. (see the "Exit from the Underdark" section for more details) Trick: On the surface, Drow items are meant to turn to dust. Want to keep that nifty Drow stuff you got? If you have NOT gotten the Harper's Pin for Jaheira, you can give her all of your Drow items, and kick her out of the party. She should go out to the Harper Hold in the Docks District. (If you have done all the Harper quests already, then she just leaves for good) Then when you pick her up again, all the Drow items are still there and can be worn in the daylight! As long as you never take these items to the "Exit from the Underdark" area, you can keep them forever. [from Gabriel] Alternate Trick: [from Chris Norman] I noticed there was a trick to save the drow items upon leaving the underdark. I liked this idea, but did not want to kick a member out of my party to do it. Also, my main character was in a romance with Jaheira so I didn't know what kicking her out would do. I decided to try to come up with an alternate method of doing this. What I came up with works, but it is somewhat inconvenient to do if you're walking around with full inventories due to having to trade the armor between many people. My trick works because the game only checks the items every round or so and will not decay items on the ground. Here is what you do. (When picking up items, use the inventory screen instead of the overhead display method of picking stuff up) 1. Immediately pause the game when you gain control of the party after leaving the underdark, before the drow equipment decays. Transfer ALL the drow stuff you want to keep on to one person and have that person drop it all into a pile on the ground. You can then unpause it. Adamantine dust will appear in your inventory just like if the items decayed, but they will still be on the ground. Also, opening the bag of holding seems to decay items as well even if paused, so do not put anything you want to keep in there. 2. Next, string your characters to the edge of the map, and have one of them as close as you can get without trying to exit the screen. The trick here is to have the people close enough together that they may pass items still. Keep the character that dropped the items in the same spot so that he can pass them all to the next person. 3. Now, repause the game, and have the character over the stack of items pick them up and pass them down the line of characters until the person near the edge has them. Have that person drop them all in a pile on the ground again. (Since the game is paused here, you are in effect, moving the items to the edge of the map before any time can pass, so they do not decay.) 4. Move your whole party close enough to the edge of the map so that you can leave the area with just a single click and no one will have to walk. Leave the guy on the stack of items again. 5. Pause again, and pick up all the equipment, passing some of it to other people if you need to again. Leave the inventory screen, and click where the party will leave the area. Then unpause, and the party will leave before the items decay. Note: I had to do this procedure again after the Drizzt meeting. I guess that the program checks for drow items on that screen as well, so you will probably have to do it again as well. After leaving the Drizzt zone, items stuck just fine though, just like with the Jaheira trick. Also note that normal Drow Longswords don't turn to dust. Yes, this is a somewhat complex method, but if you don't want to kick out a party member, or have Jaheira's quest completed, this will keep your drow armor intact. Note: Drow items aren't worth much, so unless you want to wear them, don't bother keeping them. Even if you keep the items perfectly, they can still turn to dust later. Quests: ------- QUEST: The Duergar's Tank, the Aboleth Duergar - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 1050 y 3150) Qilue - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 2725 y 1890) Just after freeing Phaere from the clutches of the Mind Flayers, a Duergar near the entrance will tell you to talk to his "master" who is in a big tank just behind him. Talk to the Aboleth, the creature in the tank, and he wants an exchange. You get him Qilue's brain and he won't reveal that you are not Drow. Sounds good. You can find Qilue's home right next to the Female Fighter's society. Enter. Alternatively: When talking to the Aboleth the first time, you can refuse to do his quest. Then when he asks why, simply tell him that if he reveals you, then you will reveal his treachery as well. For this you get 12,000 experience. [from Cyrille Artho] Once inside, kill everything that moves. Besides Qilue, there are 5 servants (mages mostly) to be killed. You can find most of these to the right. Search Qilue: (4000 exp) Boneblade Dagger +4 Qilue's Brain There isn't really anything else here, so return to the Aboleth, who gives you 10,000 experience and promises not to tell anyone who you are. QUEST: Free the Humans Slave Trader - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 1111 y 1808) Just north of the tavern is the slave area, where humans are sold to Drow masters. If you've been on the second floor of the Tavern you probably know that slaves don't have much to look forward to in Drow Culture. After you have talked to Matron Ardulace, talk to the Slave Trader and buy the slaves. We want them armed, so pay him the full price of 2000 gold. He will actually lower the cost to 1500 if you ask him. The slaves will be teleported near you. Tell them that they are now free, and that they should head to the surface. For this you get Reputation +1 and 7500 experience. QUEST: Defeat the Cultists Taso Kala - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 2480 y 2100) Cult - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 4200 y 3340) After accepting the quest from Matron Ardulace, you will find Taso Kala in front of Phaere's doorway. She automatically talks to you and ORDERS you to find and destroy the Cult of Ghaunadaur. Accept this (if you don't want your cover story blown). You will find the "cultists" where the Beholder was earlier, in the southeastern part of the city. You have one day to complete this quest. This battle consists of Drow, Otyughs and Oozes of all colors. Destroy them. None of them have any significant treasure. Go back to the Priestess to report your success. Be subservient and she'll go away (you weren't expecting a reward were you?). QUEST: The Trapped Djinn Dola Fadoon - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 1930 y 3180) Just to the right of the entrance is a djinn being tortured for the fun of it (or whatever). It begs for someone to destroy it. I wouldn't do that until you have talked to Matron Ardulace. Kill it. Then the torturer will demand compensation. She wants 4000 gold as compensation and if you don't have it, you get a day to come up with it. If you have talked to Matron Ardulace, then you can wheedle it down to a mere 2000 gold. This quest is best done just before you leave the Underdark forever. That way you can kill Dola Fadoon, tell her that you don't have the money, and leave the Underdark before anything bad ever happens to you. For all this you get a measly 5000 exp. QUEST: Deirex the Lich and Jarlaxle the Mercenary Visaj - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 3000 y 2275) Deirex's Tower - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 3700 y 2850) House Jae'llat - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 3260 y 1460) Just after meeting the Matron Ardulace for the first time, Visaj appears on the path just north of Deirex's Tower. He approaches you and wants to sell you a Rope. Not just any rope, but a magic lich-defense negating rope. Useful, no doubt, for breaking into Deirex's Tower and stealing his items. There is the small chance that the famed mercenary Jarlaxle will come looking for it, but how likely is that? Buy the rope for 1000 gold. (If you don't have that much he'll sell it for 750 gold. If your charisma is 15 or higher, you can talk him down to 500, OR you could just threaten him and take the rope from him) Now head down to Deirex's Tower and enter. Deirex is right there, and although the Rope does seem to do what it was advertised to do, you are soon teleported to Jarlaxle's Pocket Dimension®. There isn't really any way to change how things turn out in here. He tells you that he wants some Gems from Deirex, as his men are imprisoned within them. He gives you a day to accomplish this before teleporting you back to Deirex's Tower. Fight with Deirex. He is a fairly standard Lich and fights as such. (Time Stop, Abi Dalzim, etc.) By this point Liches shouldn't present too tough a challenge for you. (22,000 experience) Be sure to search his body for the Lich's Tooth and the Jae'llat Wardstone. Then search the place for treasures: (4 containers, not all in this room, and some are trapped) Spells - Glitterdust Wizard Eye Deafness Contagion Remove Magic Limited Wish Melf's Minute Meteors Spook Leather Armor of the Viper +5 Jarlaxle's Gems Take the Gems and you will instantly be teleported back to his little Pocket Dimension. Jarlaxle takes the Gems and thanks you for your efforts. Now you can either accept his thanks (2500 gold and 10,000 experience) or you can attack and kill him and his mage (14,000 experience and 12,000 experience). They don't have any good items for you to take. In any case you will be teleported back to Deirex's Tower. Go up to the next door (x 3475 y 2730), and enter. Search the lake for treasure: Gold Gems Spells - Cacofiend Ruby Ray of Reversal Spear +3 Wand of Frost & Wand of Magic Missiles Two Handed Sword +2 Crossbow of Affliction +4 (-2 STR, +4 DMG & THAC0) Short Sword +2 Ring of Folly (cursed) That's it for the Lich's treasure (the other door on the outside leads in here). Leave the tower, go up and right to reach the House Jae'llat (it's marked on the map). The Wardstone will allow you entrance. (x 3260 y 1460) This is, of course, a fairly large battle against many Drow warriors and priestesses. It just wouldn't be a Drow House without those elements. Each Jae'llat Guard is worth 6000 experience. This is the first battle, there is another one when you go over to the right. This battle has Hindra Jae'llat in it (14,000 experience) as well as Istar Jae'llat (16,000 experience). Then search the place for treasure: 2500 Gold And a LOT of Gems (about 50) If you are wondering about the other warded door out there, it also leads into the Jae'llat house. OTHER: The Running Girl Near the female fighter's society you will see a human girl running for her life. Later a couple of drow warriors ask you which way she went. You can lie or tell the truth, I've seen no real consequences of it. OTHER: The Tavern Duels Tavern - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 1835 y 2550) Sondal - Tavern (AR 2202, x 580 y 1133) On the main level of the tavern, to the left near the stairs, you will find Sondal, the Duel master. Agree to watch the first duel. One Drow easily defeats four others, comes out and asks for your opinion on the matter. Tell him that he shouldn't gloat over children and he challenges you to a duel. Accept. Note: If you lose any duel, you will be permanently barred from dueling. Also, all the duels here are One-on-One (unlike the Monster battles). When Lasonar is close to being defeated (30,000 experience) he yields the fight and gives you his sword. Blade of Searing +3 (Bastard Sword, with extra "searing" dmg) After the battle, Chalinthra challenges you to a duel. (She was involved with Lasonar, and found insult in you beating him) When you are ready, talk to Sondal again to get the duel going. Chalinthra is a Cleric of no small ability. However, she dies just the same. (12,000 experience) The next fight is against a Mage, and requires a Mage from your party to duel him. So send a mage over and let the battle begin! (6000 experience) The next battle is also a mage battle, but this one is slightly more difficult (8000 experience). After that there is one final mage (11,000 experience). I won these battles by summoning a Nishruu and using the Cloak of Mirroring. OTHER: The Tavern Monster Battles Tavern - Ust Natha (AR 2200, x 1835 y 2550) Szordrin - Tavern (AR 2202, x 1450 y 840) On the main level of the Tavern is a man standing to the right, Szordrin. Talk to him if you want to duel some animals. He has several combats, which must be done in order: (return to him after the battle to get a reward and another battle) Umber Hulk - 4000 exp, 250 gold (from Szordrin) Nabassu - 16,000 exp, 500 gold (from Szordrin) Sahuagin Prince - 2000 exp, 750 gold (from Szordrin) Beholder - 14,000 exp, 1000 gold (from Szorddrin) He then claims that he will go to the pens to find more challenges for you to fight, but he never returned (for me at least). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.2 [BHLDRC] Beholder City (AR 2101) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - BEHOLDER CITY You will find the entrance to the Beholder City in the Southeast part of the Underdark (x 4120 y 3700). It is the passage that leads down. (The other one goes to the Illithid Lair) We are here to find a Beholder Eye Stalk, and conveniently enough, we can find it on one of the first Beholders here. Kill the Elder Orb to find: Elder Orb Eye Blade of the Equalizer Amulet of Spell Warding Once you have the Eye, you can head back to Ust Natha and give it to the Matron Mother. Or you can finish exploring in here and kill a LOT of Beholders. If you have either the Shield of Balduran (from the Collector's Edition bonus shop) or the Cloak of Mirroring (from the Sahuagin City), then this place is a breeze. Put those items on your two best fighters, and only send them out. The Beholders won't be able to touch you. Elder Orbs can still cast Imprisonment on you, so you are NOT invulnerable. This just means that you should attack Elder Orbs first. - FURTHER EXPLORATIONS Go up and right to find Drow battling a Beholder. Explore the place at your leisure. There are many Beholders, Gauths and a few Mind Flayers. Just above and to the left of the Drow (x 790 y 605) is a small nook of treasure: (all treasures here are hidden in "nooks") Minor Treasures Just to the right of the Drow (x 1213 y 770) is another nook o' treasure: Sling of Avoreen +4 (casts Sonic Boom once a day) Minor Treasure Along the path to the top of the map (x 2500 y 580) is some treasure: Greenstone Amulet (can protect user from Charm, Stun and Psionics, useful against Mind Flayers, no doubt) Rainbow Obsidian Necklace There is treasure at the top of the map (x 2130 y 175): 5200 gold Gems Just left of that one is another treasure (x 1815 y 195): Minor Treasures Well south of that (x 2450 y 1080) in a passage to the left is a larger thing of treasure (it's not a nook, I mean): Minor Treasures That is that for the Beholder City. Once you have killed all the Beholders, you can take your leave and know that you have done good work here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.3 [THLLTH] The Illithid Lair (AR 2400) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - THE ILLITHID LAIR Note: You WILL want to make an Archive Save before going in here! So, do a normal save, and call it "Illithid Lair", and don't save over it until the entire lair is finished. That way, if you screw up, you can easily go back to the beginning. The most difficult, and potentially rewarding, of the three lairs is the Illithid Lair, which you can get to via the Underdark. It is located in the Southeast corner of the map, and you go right (x 5070 y 3400). Once you have entered, you will be quickly captured by a group of Mind Flayers who then enslave you. - ENSLAVED You wake up in a very small cell. Despite being slaves now, you still have all of your items. After all, Illithids don't really fear physical attacks. A minute or so later, an Ogre will open your door and tell you that it is time for you to fight. Remember the Gladiators back in the Copper Coronet? Same idea, except now YOU are the gladiators. Soon enough you are thrown into a pit to fight 3 Umber Hulks. Beat them and you will be put back in your cell. When you are back, you will be given Healing Potions. Open the side door and talk to the Gith, Simyaz, inside. These Gith were here to recover the Silver Blade (which you now possess, assuming you went with Saemon) and ended out here instead. He offers no solutions. Soon the Ogre comes again and this time takes the Gith out to fight. Soon the Gith return and tell you that they are to fight you in the next battle. However, they have a better idea. They will keep the Mind Flayers busy, while you try to find an escape from the Lair. You will soon be taken into the battle. Defeat the Kuo-Toa's and then escape out to the right while the Githyanki keep the Mind Flayers busy. - ESCAPE Kill the Ogre Jailor here (10,000 exp). Then search the table: Hilt of the Equalizer (which means that you probably have all 3 pieces) Go right into the next half of the room. There are four doors here. Open the bottom one first (x 3390 y 1760). Kill the 2 Kuo-Toa's here. Then open the top right door (x 3270 y 1515) next to kill a couple of Sahuagins. Next open the right door (x 3380 y 1620) and follow this passage right. Kill the Mind Flayer here. Then go to one of the Vats, and manipulate it until you get the Goo. Go back to the Ogre Jailer room, and open the southern door (x 3050 y 1960). Go down this passage, fight the 2 Mind Flayers, and then go right into a weird slave-control room. Find one of the smaller machines and pour the goo into it (via clicking it twice). This frees the slaves from their stasis. They tell you of a way to make Control Collars, as well as ask you to find them a way out. Go up to the big machine in the room and Use it to make Collars. Keep using it until it no longer works. You will get 4 Collars. Equip these in your Quick Item slot to use them. Then when you find a Mind Flayer, use the item on him to control him permanently. (Control ends when you open a door with him) Note: How to get extra Mind Flayers (to open doors for you). There is a room where you get the "Goo" which frees the slaves. In this room a lone Mind Flayer will spawn once every minute or so (if one is there, a new one won't spawn). There are at least two doors that require a mind flayer to open and for both doors I just went back to this room, controlled the mind flayer with one of the collars and marched him over to the door. I didn't have to turn into the Slayer once throughout the game (after the first time which you don't control). [from Rakhiir] Return to the right portion of the jail, and open the northern door (x 3050 y 1450). Go through the passage and into the room. Search the grate on the northern wall to find: Methild's Harp (Bards can dispel Hold Person effects, 3x day) Now try to open the door to the right and you get a strange message. Only a great mind or a creature with godlike strength can open this door. Which means either you go capture a Mind Flayer with the collars... or you turn into the Slayer and force the door open. Turn into the Slayer (unless you managed to keep a Mind Flayer alive), lose the 2 reputation points, and go through the LEFT door. Once you are in the next room, go up through the north door until you reach the Brine Room. The Githyanki will now be freed and will come out to congratulate you. Oh, and they aren't going to help you get out of here. (everyone gets 25,000 experience) Once in the Brine Room, try to capture some Mind Flayers (don't use all your collars). Click on the 8 vats to create 8 Brine Potions, which can be used to protect your party from Psionic Attacks. Give these potions ONLY to front line fighters, and use them ONLY when you are near Mind Flayers, they have a very short effectiveness. Go back to the previous room and open the lower left door (opening these doors requires only that you have a Mind Flayer in the party, x 1690 y 1235). Have only your best fighters proceed, each having taken a swig of the Brine Potion. (or using the Greenstone Amulet from the Beholder City) Continue left to find a large group of Illithid and Umber Hulks. From this room there are 3 doors, one to the north, one to the south and a secret door to the northeast. Since we are being thorough, take the south door first. This leads to a room with three bizarre Pod-like things in it. Open each of them to reveal an enemy. Kuo-Toa Priest - 2000 exp, Magic Bolts, etc. Insane Dwarf - 1750 exp, Ring of Fire Control (50% fire res., spells) Umber Hulk - 4000 exp Back to the other room. Now open the Secret Door (x 1140 y 1300). Go up this way to find 3 Mind Flayers and several Umber Hulks. Once they are dead, search the table to find: Staff of Command +2 (casts Domination once) Back to the other room. That leaves only the northern door to go through. (x 950 y 1280) I'm not sure why, but I had to turn into the Slayer to open this door. What then was the point of taking control of several Mind Flayers? If you have a Mind Flayer in your party, you can then Lockpick the door as normal. Anyway go through there to find the Big Evil Illithid Brain. Kill that first (40,000 experience), then concentrate on the other Illithids in there, then the Umber Hulks and finally the Brain Golems. When the Brain dies you automatically gain some of its blood to give to Matron Ardulace. - EXIT Head back and then right to (x 3730 y 1100) to find the slaves who are now escaping. They thank you (45,000 experience and a Reputation +1) and leave. You should do the same. You will find the Githyanki outside in the Underdark under the Tent. If you have the Silver Blade on you, then they want it back and are prepared to fight and die to get it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.4 [XTFRTU] Exit from the Underdark (AR 2402) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - KUO-TOA DUNGEON (for the Kuo-Toa blood for Matron Ardulace) This one is by far the hardest to spot. From the Underdark head west. Go to just south of the Svirfneblin bridge. Then continue west into the darkness. You will find that you can travel at (x 150 y 1840). It's not marked on the map, and if you didn't know it was there, you might go right by it. If you did the Silver Dragon Quest, then you will appear at the END of this particular level. In that case you may want to backtrack to find all the spiffy items. Anyway, go right. There are many strange symbols drawn on the ground. The spiral indicates "danger". Go up the northern "spiraly" path to find some beholders. (well one Beholder and 2 Gauth) These things are easily killed by anyone with the proper Cloak of Mirroring (or Shield of Balduran). Go back. Now go up the northeastern passage (x 1230 y 1315). There are a group of Kuo-toans here, including some wizards. Finish them off. Then search the nearby pool to get some Tainted Tadpoles. Go back. This time we go right. The path will split, one portion going north and another continuing right. We want to keep going right, however, the way is dangerous as a Flame Strike will hit you. Cross over and open the big door (x 2800 y 1670). - THE DEMOGORGON Within is an empty room with several statues. At the top of the room is a gigantic statue of a Demogorgon. It asks you to put a sacrifice in front of it to "awaken the five." This is best done by casting "Animal Summoning" or a similar spell, and putting the animal in front of the statue. The animals dies, and the five demon knights appear. Each of the Demon Knights is tough, does level drain and has some odd spell casting abilities (such as Horror). Kill them. 16,000 experience each Two Handed Swords +1 Soul Reaver: Two handed Sword +4 (not usable by Good) Girdle of Frost Giant Strength (21 STR, part of the Crom Faeyr) Armor of the Hart: Full Plate +3 Go back to the passage, and take the northern path. - BLOOD OF A KUO-TOA Just a little ways up the passage you will run into another large group of Kuo-Toa's. Take these goons out. Continue northeast into a small round room. It may have Kuo-Toa's in it, or they may be in its two side rooms. In the right room you will find the Kuo-Toa Prince. Kill him. Kuo-Toa Prince - 4000 experience Blood Gems Gold Bracers of Blinding Strike (casts improved Haste) Oh, and if you want to, you can put the Tainted Tadpoles in the pools in the right room. (If this is done before the battle, it weakens the Prince) - EXIT Now if you did the quest for Matron Ardulace, go back the way you came. However, if you need to, you can leave the Underdark completely to the left. I wouldn't recommend that, but if you have to, why not. (Your disguise WILL fail if you attempt to leave, and then you can never return to Ust Natha) If you were merely teleported here by Adalon, then fight through the Drow guards (some have good EXP, but none have good items) to exit the area through the gates to the left. - TO THE SURFACE (AR 2401) This next series of passages leads to the surface. You will first encounter a large Drow war party that needs to be taken out. Go up to the next room to find Drow warring with surface Elves. They tell you to get to the surface and talk to Captain Elhan. There is another battle through the northwest doors. Open the southwest doors (x 800 y 520) and go through. There is yet another battle with Drow here. Continue through. Open the last door and exit to the surface. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. [BCKTAT] Chapter 6: Back to Athkatla ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- You exit and are confronted by Elves who at first think you are Drow, but even when they realize their error, still don't like you. You are taken to see the Elven leaders, first a General, then Elhan... Walkthrough: ------------ - ELHAN'S QUESTIONS Elhan now will grill you on your various adventures. He has a sage behind him who will verify the veracity of your statements (sort of like a polygraph test). Just answer truthfully and things will go better. For example, on the first question I told him that I left the Drow "bloodied and battered... I did not flee." The conversation at first is an exchange of information... mostly from you to them. Then once they know that you know more than they, they want you to help them. They need the Lanthorn to re-enter the city, but it was stolen by Bodhi. You must find her and retrieve the item. Ask for their help in this matter and get Holy Water and Stakes off of them. If Viconia is in the party they force her to swear a Geas to serve you. - GATHER ALLIES TO ASSAULT BODHI, DRIZZT Naturally the first thing you will want to do upon exiting the Underdark is to head over to Cromwell to make the Crom Faeyr, Long Sword of the Equalizer and Gesen Bow. (all of which we have now found all the pieces for) However, on your way anywhere, you will bump into Drizzt Do'Urden and his friends: Bruenor, Wulfgar, Regis and Catti-Brie (from the Salvatore novels). If you happen to have killed Drizzt in the previous game (and imported a save-game) then Drizzt is fairly hostile to you. If your imported character had any of Drizzt's items, then he starts out fairly hostile to you. Otherwise he is fairly friendly to you. He is, after all, a force for GOOD in the world. The point of Drizzt is to ask him to help you fight down the evil Vampire Bodhi, which he promises to do. If you do that, then you can simply meet him in her crypt in the Graveyard. EVIL Parties: I'm betting, however, that many of you are going to fight Drizzt to try to steal his nifty items. First off, this makes you EVIL, as Drizzt is good. Secondly, several party members will leave your party (or attack you) if you do this: Jaheira (leaves, goes to Athkatla) Keldorn (leaves your party and attacks you) Others aren't happy about it, but don't complain. When the fight begins, Drizzt immediately summons forth his spectral panther, Guenwhyvar to help him. I'd take out Drizzt first, followed quickly by Catti-Brie. They are the two fiercest here. Then concentrate on Wulfgar, Guenhwyvar and Bruenor. Save Regis for last. This battle shouldn't be too hard for you. Catti-Brie - 12,000 experience Tansheron's Bow +3 Long Sword +2 Chainmail +2 Regis - 1500 experience Leather Armor +1 Mace +2 Ruby Pendant (Dire Charm 1x/day) Bruenor - 3500 experience Battle Axe +3 Mithril Field Plate +2 Wulfgar - 3000 experience Aegis Fang (War Hammer +3) Guenhwyvar - 1400 experience Drizzt - 12,000 experience Scimitar +5, Defender Scimitar +3, Frostbrand Mithril Chainmail +4 If you DO kill them and steal their things, later Malchor Harpell will appear and attempt to retrieve these items. (This often leads to strange bugs, where he doesn't actually do anything, but keeps hanging around). - GATHER MORE ALLIES If you didn't want Drizzt as an Ally, there are other places to look for friends. (You don't actually need any allies if you are confident enough in your battle abilities) The Shadow Thieves: Talk to Aran Linvail (basement of the Shadow Thieves Guild) and ask him to back you up when you invade Bodhi's place and he will send his "best" assassins out to help you. Order of the Radiant Heart: Head over to the Order and a Squire will meet with you. Then talk to Prelate Wesselan in the side room and ask for his help in defeating Bodhi and he will send a contingent of Paladins out to the Tomb to help out. (Interestingly, one of the Paladins sent has the Two Handed Sword +3: Harbinger, that when it hits may hit with a Fireball as well) You may also be able to convince a Temple to help you IF that Temple is your Stronghold. You can recruit all of them to help, or none of them. Up to you. WARNING: If you are in a romance with someone, remove their equipment before heading to the graveyard. - BODHI FINALE Head over to the Graveyard to listen to Bodhi. If you are currently in a Romance with someone, that person will be turned Cyan (such that you cannot talk to them) and a battle between your party and Bodhi's vampires breaks out. Your romantic interest will then be spirited away. Head out to the entrance to the lower levels (x 590 y 980). The other entrances are mostly barred to prevent entry. Go down into the crypt. If you have allies down here, you will find them fighting away. I will assume that you have no allies, so any allies you have will merely help you. (although you get no experience for anything the "allies" kill) Search the two nearby containers to find some spells (and some Stakes if you need them): Spells - Finger of Death Symbol of Death We're on the same battle plan as the first time we came here, namely kill Vampires with names, and Stake them when they retreat to their coffins. Go up the passage to find Valen and Del. Kill them, then enter the room to the left to Stake the two of them. Go up the northern passage (x 360 y 1080) to the blood bath room. Here you will find more vampires (Salia, Meredath) and a pool of blood. Kill the vampires. Neither of them deserve staking. Then go up to the Pool and click it twice to use the Holy Water on it. This cleanses the pool and weakens the vampires. Go through the passage to the right. There you will find a HORDE of vampires (hence why you wanted the allies, I would think). Simply go forward until a couple vampires come your way, kill them, go a little further forward, do some more, and so on. When the last of this room's many vampires are dead, go back to the Coffin room and Stake it. Tip: Other ways to kill vampires would be to launch Cloudkills into the room, use Turn Undead (from an Evil priest you seize control of Vampires and can turn them on each other). Head into the next passage to the right to get to the Spiky Room. Here you find a Guard Vampire, who casts spells on himself. Nothing a good Breach spell can't remove. (x 2150 y 675) Enter the spiky room. There are many Vampiric Mists and Traps in here. Search the center blood pool to find: Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise (+1 THAC0, +2 Damage) Stakes Back to the main room, and take the stairs to the lower level. (x 1575 y 550) If any of the three allies came with you (Drizzt, Eric the Paladin or Arkanis the Shadow Thief) then they will automatically appear with you (even if it didn't look like they understood what stairs are). This first passage has 2 traps in it before you reach the door. Arkanis will detrap these if he is with you. Michael Schneider has a battle plan: I recommend the following course of action if you have the Mace of Destruction +2: Allow NO ONE to fight in the final Bodhi battle save your strongest fighter with this weapon and some good armor equipped (you won't take much *physical* damage in this battle if your AC is -7 or lower), and a Cloak of Spell-turning (or Shield of Balduran). The Mace of Destruction renders him immune to level-drain (and the level-drain ability of the vampires and even fledgling-vampires are enhanced for this battle; presumably this is what the Holy Water weakens), which means that all of your party (being unaffected) will be eligible for the big XP payoff at the conclusion. Otherwise you'll need to cast a lot of Restorations before staking her. Open the door to find Bodhi. She gives her final Evil Rant and attacks. If your lover was turned, you will find them here and they will attack you forcing you to kill them. Make sure to loot them if you didn't remove their equipment earlier. Go up to the Pool (any of them) and use a Holy Water on it to weaken the vampires further. Kill Bodhi (91,000 experience) and she will flee to her coffin in the top right room. Go up there and Stake her. (x 1700 y 100) This gets you: 55,000 + 48,500 experience for each character Rhynn Lanthorn (needed to enter the elven city) Before leaving be sure to get: Bodhi's Black Heart Body of your Lover (if applicable) The Vapiricus Omnibus: Unabridged (from the top left room) - RESTORE YOUR LOVER Well, before we go to Chapter Seven we have to undo the rest of what Bodhi did, namely we have to reverse the vampirism. The Vapiricus Omnibus mentions the god Amaunator, whose temple we restored when we defeated the Shade Lord (or, if you didn't do that, check out the Umar Hills section). Go to the Temple Ruins area. Enter the temple ruins. Make your way to the lettered-floor room (where you can only cross safely by stepping on the letters AMAUNATOR) cross and enter the left room with the giant statue. Place the Body and Bodhi's Heart in the arms of the statue (x 2615 y 1620). Your lover will be restored back to life and will be very thankful. - RETURN THE LANTHORN Go back to the 'exit from the underdark' area and talk to Elhan again. Everything he says just reveals more and more that the elves knew Irenicus and Bodhi from before. However, he does not wish to tell you the entire story, and says that if you can rescue the Priestess Demin from the city, Suldanessellar, then she will reveal all to you. (everyone gets 74,500 experience) This is continued in the section titled 'Suldanessellar.' Quests: ------- QUEST: Restore Yoshimo's Soul If you still have Yoshimo's (black) heart, you can try to remove the Geas that holds his soul. Take it to any Priest of Ilmater (for example, the Temple that is on the Roof of the Copper Coronet) and ask that they help him. For this you gain 200,000 experience. And no, Yoshimo cannot be resurrected after this. But hey, you did save his soul! OTHER: Find the Silver Hilt for the Vorpal Sword You've had the Silver Blade forever now (assuming you went with Saemon) and are probably wondering just when you are going to get that pesky hilt for it. Well, when wandering near the Adventurer's Mart in Waukeen's Promenade I encountered Kruin, a mean Gith who needs the Sword to re-enter Limbo. Refuse to hand over the sword and he starts casting spells like crazy. Did I mention that he has several Gith buddies around? Kill them to get the Silver Hilt, used to finish the Vorpal Sword. (Rhetorical question, why didn't the Cowled Wizards show up when the Gith started casting spells?) OTHER: The Doppleganger Brigands While traveling between areas you will be "waylaid" by a group of what appears to be peasants. They ask if you are the famous adventurer, renowned throughout the Sword Coast. Say yes and they suddenly turn themselves into cloned versions of your party! Who knows what diabolical scheme they have concocted to use with a cloned version of your party. Kill them. I didn't really find anything else remarkable about them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1 [3NWARS] Three New Areas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - AREA ONE: SMALL TEETH PASS (AR 1700) You probably couldn't help but notice that when you emerged from the Underdark there were 3 new areas on your map. From left to right these are: Small Teeth Pass, North Forest and the Forest of Tethir. We'll hit them in that order starting with the Small Teeth Pass. There is nothing in the Small Teeth Pass. Sure, you can fight some Wolfwere's, or Vampiric Mists or even Gnolls, but other than that you won't find a single thing of significance here. On to the next area. - AREA TWO: NORTH FOREST (AR 1800) This area is very small, but actually does have more significant things in it. There is a grave (x 1550 y 525) near the top of the map that has some random treasures in it. Yes, you heard me, random. Nothing great, possibly some spells, potions or gems. At night this grave is guarded by some Genies (a Djinn and an Efreet). Further down from that you will find another set of graves, this one defended by a Mage, a Priest and their goons. I would take out the mage first to prevent him from casting his Time Stop and other spells. You can search them, but they don't have any great treasures. - AREA THREE: FOREST OF TETHIR (AR 2600) Unlike the previous two areas, this one actually has something in it! A Quest even! With murder and intrigue! You will likely start out at the top of the map. Immediately to your right you will see a cage hanging from a tree (x 2320 y 225). This is the Wolfwere camp and becomes significant later. From there go south to the branch (x 2430 y 1630) go left onto the branch and from there onto the really big fallen tree. Go north up this tree to the next branch (x 1600 y 1180). Go left on this branch to reach the Cabin. Here you will meet up with Coran (x 580 y 1130) who tells you that he wandered out here with Safana but now she has been kidnapped by Wolfweres. Agree to help him out. (Also you can search the left side of the cabin to find a minor treasure, it's on the wall) If you enter his cabin you will find it overrun by Vampiric Mists and similar creatures. There are also some +1 and +2 items in here, but by this point in the game that isn't very noteworthy! Leave the cabin and return to the Wolfwere camp to find Coran. Lanfear has been "holding" Safana captive, but it turns out that they are in cahoots and are out to get you for some bounty or another. Treachery! And you thought Yoshimo hurt! (Safana and Coran were with you in Baldur's Gate) However, Lanfear has her own plot to steal Coran away, and kills Safana once he is there. A battle soon breaks out. Try to keep Coran alive if you want (isn't important). If your main character was Female then Lanfear simply kills Coran before the battle. (such is life, I suppose) And that is that for Coran. Back onto the left log (x 2020 y 1620). This time take it south to where it intersects with another log (x 3040 y 2800). Now there is a branch just to the south (and a little east) that leads south off of this log (x 3240 y 2960). This leads to another branch that goes east. Go north once you are off the branch until you reach the Door (x 4500 y 2220). Enter. Search the lake: Mana Bow +4 (20% magic resistance) minor treasures There's nothing else worth looking at in here, so leave. (If you did go into the back room, be sure to check for traps first) We're also done with this area, so you can leave. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. [SLDNSS] Chapter 7: Suldanessellar (AR 2800) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- Elhan uses the Lanthorn to open a hole in the tree to the Elven City of Suldanessellar (everyone in the party gets another 74,500 experience). The elves then re-enter their city and bid you to follow them... Walkthrough: ------------ - SULDANESSELLAR In case you are wondering, you are in the Forest of Tethir to start with (see the above section 'Three New Areas' if you haven't been here already). Enter the city. The elves move out to look for survivors, and Elhan tells you to be careful and look for Ellesime. We are currently in the bottom right portion of the map. Go north to find the first building (x 4640 y 2500). Enter. Kill the three Golems in here to save the two elves. They reveal that you will find Priestess Demin in a house in the Southwestern part of the city, then leave. Search the large bookcase on the right (x 680 y 270) to find the: Stone Horn (needed) Darts The container just north of that bookcase holds a: Cloak of Elvenkind (Hide in Shadows +50%) The rest of the containers hold merely minor treasures. Exit the building. Head up the northwestern path (x 4515 y 2450). Beware Golems that may lurk around here. There was a group of Rakshasa's (x 4060 y 1950) just outside the next building. Be ready for a large battle, and enter the building. If you cast Protection from Evil 10' on your party, then the Glabrezu will not attack you. Once inside take out the mage first and the rest will be easy. There is nothing else to be done here for the moment, but remember this place (Temple of Rillifane), we will be back. Exit. Note: If you have the artifacts of Rillifane before coming here the first time, and quickly placed them in the Altar, you could let the Avatar of Rillifane fight this battle for you. (Rolander) Head down the southwest path to the unmarked building (x 3160 y 2730). There will probably be more Golems here to fight. Go up the stairs on the building to rescue some elves. Tell them to get to the gates. South of this building is a platform where some elves and trolls are fighting. Once the trolls are defeated the elves "move out" to help out other sections of the city. - THE SYMBOL OF RILLIFANE Go down the next southwest passage to the next building (x 2080 y 3240). Enter the TOP room first, and search it until you find the Wardstone. Then leave that room and enter the lower room. You can find the Meteor Swarm spell on the fireplace mantle. To the right you will see three dead elves around an odd piece of furniture. The answers to this thing's questions can be found on the wardstone. Go up and use the thing: First: Press the Rune of Corellan Lotharian 2nd: Press the Symbol of Rillifane 3rd: Press the elven Symbol of Water 4th: Press the Rune that denotes the Tree of Life Do that correctly to get the Symbol of Rillifane. Leave this room. - THE PRIESTESS DEMIN Go west (where you will see Elves battling skeletal warriors), then northwest to get to Demin's House (x 780 y 2140), which is guarded by a Drow and a Demon. Go up the stairs and enter the building. Inside you will find Demin fighting three Rakshasa's: Girdle of Stone Giant Strength (20 STR) On the shelf behind her you will find: Spell - Absolute Immunity Afterwards talk to Demin to learn all about Irenicus' past and why he has invaded the elven city. She also has an idea to help clear the city of its current pest problem, to restore the Guardians of the forest. What you need is to find the three artifacts of Rillifane: The Cup, the Symbol and the Moonblade. We already got the Symbol, all we need is the Cup, which is on the Dragon to the northwest and the Moonblade, which is in the Temple of the Moon to the east. Leave her house. - THE ARTIFACTS OF RILLIFANE Go up the northern path to the Harpist's House (x 1060 y 625). Outside the house a group of elves are fighting some golems. If you manage to save the elves they give you 13,000 experience. Enter the building. Search the desk in the top left to find: Stone Harp (companion to the Stone Horn) Leave the building. Go up to the northwest passage (x 500 y 725). This path leads to a new area with the Black Dragon that we must defeat to get the Golden Cup of Rillifane. Take the passage. Once at the new area, cast whatever protective spells you wish (I used Haste, Protection from Evil and Mazzy's Protection from Fear), then go southwest and fight the dragon. You can try to reason with him, but he won't fall for it, and a battle is inevitable. Just keep his spell defenses down and attack. By this point in the game you should be mighty enough to easily whack this pest. Nizidramanii'yt - 52,000 experience Golden Goblet of Life (fancier name) Bladesinger Chain +4 (elven chainmail, AC 1) Minor Treasures Note: You can also trade all your possessions for the Goblet if you would rather. You could drop all your items on the ground before talking to the dragon, then he just takes all your gold. I wonder what the Dragon would do with Boo, anyway... Once the Dragon is dead, head back the way you came. Alternatively: You can give the Dragon everything you have (gold and items) for the Goblet. Naturally, you'll want to drop all your items before doing this. Go southeast, past the Harpist's House, southeast down the next passage to get to the House of the Moon (x 1830 y 1450) and site of the final artifact of Rillifane. Enter. Within the house you get to watch as an elf kills a Balor, but is destroyed himself in the process. Search the elf's remains to find the Moonblade. Then search the rest of the room to find: Boots of Elvenkind Spells - Gate Return to the Temple of Rillifane and place the three sacred objects (Cup, Moonblade and Amulet) in the Altar in the center. This will create the Avatar of Rillifane who is irritated that his temple has been defiled by Irenicus. (everyone gets 65,000 experience) After talking with you he summons forth the Guardians of the Forest, who clear out the city and unseal the Palace for you to enter. You also get: Staff of the Woodlands +4 (+3 AC, best weapon for Druids) Leave the temple. Just outside the temple will be a new elf, Reirra, who offers to sell you things. When you are ready head up to the Palace (x 3450 y 600). Near the House of the Moon you will find some elves in conflict with some monsters. Help out (although the elves seem to get dominated). - THE PALACE Go up to the tree and keep using it until you get all the nuts (the screen will fade to black). There is now only one door to go through, so go through it. This leads to a pleasant garden with a waterfall in the center. To the left are two statues, use the statues to put the Stone Horn and Stone Harp on them. (3000 exp each) This removes the waterfall and replaces it with a staircase. Go down the stairs. (after first talking to your party members about the upcoming battle) - THE TREE OF LIFE When you first enter this area, Ellesime talks to you. She tells you that you need to slay 3 parasites on the tree in order to weaken Irenicus to the point where he can be defeated. From where you start, go all the way left (x 1970 y 450) and one of your Seeds will grow into a new branch that continues left. Go left to find the first parasite (x 1430 y 140). Click on it to try to kill it, however it has a defender that leaps out to attack you. (for me it was 2 Earth Elementals) Once they are dead, click on the parasite to kill it. One down, two to go. Go a little left and down from the first parasite and a new branch will grow in. Cross it and go down. (x 877 y 1070) Follow this path down to find the second parasite (x 1180 y 1480). Click on it until its guardians attack you (air elementals). Once they are dead, kill the second Parasite and Ellesime will contact you again. She is very excited now and thinks there is a good chance that you could kill Irenicus. (or as she calls him, Joneleth) One more Parasite to go. Go down. You will pass right by Irenicus (x 1800 y 2035), go past him on the path that leads eastwards. (x 2340 y 2400) Another branch will grow in, cross it. Keep going right until you find the final parasite (x 2875 2025). Do the same thing to kill it. When the last parasite dies you are automatically teleported over to Irenicus. - BATTLE WITH IRENICUS There are many ways to fight Irenicus. Some might suggest summoning a Nishruu or Hakeashar to deal with him. Others would recommend using Protection from Magic scrolls. An easy strategy that often works is to let him cast some spells, then just wander off for awhile. Most mages don't follow you, and it can easily allow you to do what you will (protective magics, healing, etc.). But perhaps the easiest strategy for dealing with Irenicus comes from Xar: Since you can reach Irenicus before killing the parasites, fill his areas with the nastiest traps you have (either you need to be a thief or have Jan along Imoen/Nalias trap skill is too poor). The traps wont activate until you get the arch-villain speech. Seven traps (with some special snare or advanced) will kill him before he can raise a single barrier. Next. When Irenicus is dead, everyone is sucked into hell with him. If anyone died, don't worry about their possessions, they will appear in hell with you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1 [TH9HLS] The Nine Hells (AR 2900) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- When Irenicus died, your stolen soul did not return to you and as a result you followed Irenicus into hell. Imoen has a theory as to why the same didn't happen with her, that Bodhi's vampirism made the soul transfer easier. In any case, you must find Irenicus and finish things, once and for all. Walkthrough: ------------ - BHAAL'S TEARS: SAREVOK Well that big giant door to the north seems like a likely place to have to end out eventually, if only you could open it. Go over to the left (x 575 y 840) and down the stairs. Note: Each of these "tests" has a GOOD and an EVIL way to accomplish them. Which you do has some fairly drastic effects when you get around to opening the final doors. Alternate Route: [from Henning Roes] In your walkthrough you walked left and started with the Wraith of Sarevok. If you walk right instead it seems that whatever you do you will stay good. In my first game I went left and everything was like you described. In my second and third game I went right and wasn't able to get the evil reward or become evil. I sacrificed a peasent for example by choosing the evil path to avoid the loss of DEX. When I placed the Tear my alignment didn't change and I got the 'good' reward. Same in every other cave. The exception is the Wraith of Sarevok. When I showed him my wrath I got the evil reward and my alignment changed. There is even a small benefit by going right beside the benefits mentioned above. Sarevok's Wraith is not able to hurt you when you're immune to 0/+1-weapons. You can kill him with a dagger or your fists. Walk forward a little to find Wraith Sarevok (he was the final bad-guy in the first Baldur's Gate, if you didn't play it). Talk to him. He tells you just about everything you will need to know about this hell you are in. How you need to collect the Tears of Bhaal to open that door, and to confront Irenicus for your soul. If you get really mad at Sarevok and yell at him and so forth, then your stats will be increased. (It's along the lines of you deserving the power of the Slayer) My Barbarian gained +1 STR. That, however, is the EVIL path. Note: Choosing the evil path when fighting Sarevok's Wraith gives you +1 STR. This is permanently added to your STR. The +2 reward is added to your actual equipment. For example: You have STR19, gain the +1 then you have 20. Adding the +2 gives you 21. If you're wearing a girdle of STR21 then your STR is increased to 21+2=23. (Henning Roes) Go back up. Then go down, and left to the next staircase (x 830 y 1830). - BHAAL'S TEARS: GREED You will immediately confront a demon by the name of Greed. He greets you and gives you the Blackrazor longsword (a +3 weapon with many good effects). Walk forward to find the trapped Genie. He gives you a little riddle. The gist of which is that to free him and gain the Tear of Bhaal that you need requires the use of the Blackrazor. You can either give him the sword (20,000 exp) or you can kill him with it. (11,000 exp) In any case once you have the tear go back up. Giving him the sword is the GOOD path, killing him the EVIL path. Note: I've heard you can pickpocket the tear off him, but haven't confirmed it. Go right, then down the center stairs (x 2100 y 2200). - BHAAL'S TEARS: SELFISH Walk forward to find the demon Selfish. It tells you that it has a Tear but that you have to prove yourself worthy. It then steals one of your companions (and if you happen to HAVE no companions, then it steals a mortal from some random place... I have also heard that you can simply dismiss an NPC before going here and he will still summon the peasant). Then the choice becomes thus, if you go on the left path you must sacrifice to save this person, if you go right you sacrifice nothing (but the person being held is killed). If you take the Left path, you will lose: First Door: 2 HP from maximum Second Door: 1 point of Dexterity Third Door: Experience Ard has an interesting alternative: I have found a way around it. I came in with my main char and Imoen (I did the whole game with one but kept Imoen when she returned) so Imoen was taken hostage. She wore the boots of speed (perhaps haste works too). I paused immediately when she appeared below and cued her to run to the bottom left door and open it *from the inside*. Imoen could just reach this before being held. The demon was satisfied, gave up the tear and buzzed off without any of the damage described. Andrew Scarvell has another interesting alternative: I found this out quite by accident. One of my multiplayer characters, a female gnome illusionist/thief (aka Wierdo), had a Dispel Magic spell stored away in a Contingency, set to go off if the character became "helpless". Anyway, Wierdo was spirited away by Selfish, and had the Hold spell put on her, thus rendering her helpless. The Contingency spell therefore kicked in, and the dispel magic freed her. Now, with Wierdo free in the demon's domain, she could simply talk to the demon and the GOOD path was automatically chosen. She was then able to open the final left door at her leisure, which caused the main character to lose some experience, but this was the only penalty I suffered as the other doors are now inactive. No loss of DEX or HP. And I didn't cheat in any way - in fact it was positively in spirit with the game, as a very innovative (or lucky) application of the contingency/dispel magic combo. This is quite similar to Ard's cheat involving the boots of speed, except that it isn't a cheat. If you take the right path, YOU lose nothing, but the person held dies. This is a permanent death (unless you have the Rules set to the easier levels). Also if you are a Paladin or a Ranger you will become Fallen. Naturally making the sacrifice is GOOD, and getting them killed is EVIL. There is also some minor treasure by where your companion is held. Time to leave this area, go back and get to the next set of stairs to the right. - BHAAL'S TEARS: FEAR You will immediately encounter the Fear Demon. He tells you that there are horrible fiends beyond him that will devour you alive. Your only hope is a magical Nymph-skin cloak that he has. Don't take the cloak as you don't need it. Taking the cloak is the EVIL path, not taking it is the GOOD path. Tip: Cast Remove Fear on your party ahead of time. Past this demon there are two paths, a northern one that leads to Beholders and a southern one that has a Fear aura on it. Take the southern passage to the right, skip by the treasure chest. At the end of the path is a bright red crystal. Click it to get the Tear of Bhaal. Go back out, and there is only one last set of stairs to hit. (x 3385 y 1000) - BHAAL'S TEARS: PRIDE Here you will meet with the final demon, Pride. He has a big long speech since he is the last demon (actually any of them will give you this speech if you do them last). Then he tells you that to get the last tear you must defeat a big evil monster. Ask him what KIND of monster it is. Then keep bugging him about the creature. Why does it deserve death? Keep bugging him until he admits that the creature might just give you the tear anyway. Go forward to find the Dragon and it will give you the tear. That was easy, wasn't it. Doing it that way is the GOOD path, fighting the dragon anyway is the EVIL path. There are some potions in a hidden container to the left by the red glowing crystals. If you chose to fight whatever was in there, it will be a Red Dragon and it will have some interesting treasures, but at this point in the game, it isn't really worthwhile. Go back out. - IRENICUS FINALE I bet you're just saying to yourself, just how many times must I kill Irenicus before he finally dies!? Well just this one more time, honest. Head up to the Big Door (x 2050 y 400) and click it. Click it again to remove the seals. (and again...) Depending on whether you did the tests as "Good" or "Evil" you get these bonuses: (bonuses from ANDY) FEAR TEAR (the Nymph cloak) Good: Immunity to +1 weapons or less Evil: +2 CON SELFISHNESS TEAR (sacrifice for companion) Good: +10 resistance to magic Evil: +2 to your AC GREED TEAR (the Blackrazor sword) Good: +2 to all saving throws Evil: +15 to HP PRIDE TEAR (the dragon) Good: +20% resistances to fire, cold and electricity Evil: Gain 200,000 experience WRATH TEAR (Sarevok) Good: +1 to WIS and CHA Evil: +2 to STR IMPORTANT NOTE: If in any of the above tests you choose the Evil Path, you lose one reputation point and also have the alignment changed over to evil (if you were good or neutral). When the door opens, Irenicus blasts out to face you one last time. This time, it's personal. This time Irenicus summons forth 4 demons and then becomes the Slayer. I ignored Irenicus and killed the demons first, then I concentrated all firepower on Irenicus. I found this battle to be easier than the earlier battle with him, but that is just me. He also will teleport around the area. When he dies, he dies rather spectacularly. And so the game ends... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X1. [STRNGH] STRONGHOLD Walkthroughs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These do not tell you how to get the Hold, (though they do tell you where to start) these are intended to tell you what to do with the Hold when you get it. Only the main character gets a stronghold. That means if your main character is a Fighter, Monk or Barbarian, you get the Warrior Stronghold. Sorcerers get the Mage Stronghold. Warrior --> De'Arnise Hold Talk to Nalia in the Copper Coronet in the Slums to get this quest started. Then at the successful completion of the quest, Nalia gives you the fortress as thanks. You MUST accept the Stronghold when she first offers it! If you do not, it will be seized by her enemies. This stronghold's primary ability is to raise money, which it does at a rate of 500 gp per week. This gold is collected in the library on the second floor. You can also sleep anywhere in the Keep. Also you can "raise the tax rate," which results in an instant 1000 gp gain, but makes the people less happy. You want to keep your people happy since when they get too unhappy they will revolt. And if they revolt you lose control of the Keep. Plus about once a week someone will come to visit you at the hold. These are "mini-quests" and usually involve a choice on your part. Most of these are worth only experience. The best time to know when to return to your keep is when you get the message saying that "Gold has been placed in your Keep". Event 1: Angry Merchant. Tolmas Bendelia is here and he is quite upset. His caravan was waylaid by bandits in your land and he wants restitution. From you. If you do NOT pay him, he threatens to make life miserable for your people. The caravan was worth 1000 gold. You can either pay him the money, buy the debts of the farmers, or laugh him out of your sight. Once that is done you must decide what to do about the bandits. You can hire mercenaries for 500 gold, 250 gold or ignore them. Depending on your answers you get exp: Buy debts for 1000 and 500 for mercenaries: 15,000 Pay him 1000 and 500 for mercenaries: 15,000 Pay him 1000 and 250 for mercenaries: 0 Pay him 500 (CHA of 15+) and 500 for mercs: 15,000 Event 2: The Guard Thief. Captain Cernick has caught one of your guards stealing. Cernick, if asked, would have the man executed immediately, but that won't gain you anything. Talk to the thief and learn his side of the story. Turns out he has a very good excuse (medicine for wife). You can execute him, expel him from the guard or help him out. The medicine costs 500 gold. Forgive him: 15,500 exp Expel him: 11,500 exp Execute: nothing Buying the medicine makes the people like you more, and less likely to revolt. Event 3: The Cleric of Tempus (Tempos). A priest of Tempus wants to set up shop in your Keep. He's a very odd character, and not someone that you will like. Keldorn will recommend him, while Anomen doesn't like him. Let him stay: 15,500 exp Don't take stranger into keep: 11,500 exp Tell him to beat it: nothing If you do keep him, you can find him upstairs in the Golem area. It requires going through some secret doors but it is your own temple. Also letting him stay makes the people like you more. Event 4: Somewhere around 2 weeks later (for me it was 16 days) a messenger appears and tells you to get back to the Hold within the next week OR ELSE. Once you are there you meet with Lord Farthington Roenall who wants you to give up the Keep. I suggest you NOT do that. Event 5: Chanelle the Maid. She has two men who wish to marry her and only you can decide which she is to marry. The first, Jessup, is poor but she loves him. The second, Malvolio, is rich but she doesn't love him. Marry Jessup: 15,500 exp Marry Malvolio: 11,500 exp If you let her marry Jessup then you have the option of providing a dowry. A 500 gold dowry makes the people like you more. If you let her marry Malvolio, the people like you less. However, if you refuse his 500 gp, then they like you more (however, the two cancel each other out so you end out where you started). Event 6: The two moneylenders. They claim that the previous Lord De'Arnise borrowed money from them and that you are responsible for paying it. The Major Domo says that there was no such debt, and that they could have forged the documents themselves. You can pay them their money if you wish, but you get no experience from it. Either threaten them with executions or have them executed. Turns out they are blackmailers, but they might have a hold over your people. If you didn't buy off the blackmailers, you have to pay your people. 500 gold: 11,500 exp 1000 gold: 15,500 exp (and people like you more) And not paying makes the people angry with you. Event 7: Flooding. The old dikes have broken flooding the land. Several angry farmers demand satisfaction from you. You need to spend money to repair the farms: 5000 gold: 15,500 exp partial: 4500 exp none: nothing (and this makes a revolt more likely) If you do a partial amount, you get experience based on how much you shell out: 4000 gold: 6500 exp 3000 gold: 4500 exp 2000 gold: 2500 exp 1000 gold: nothing And the less you pay, the more angry at you they become. Then you need to spend money to repair the dike: 2000 gold: the people like you more none: nothing (possible bad effects with Roenall) Listen to what the farmers say when they leave. If they compliment you, then the people like you, if they say... not so nice things, beware. Event 8: Invasion. Lord Roenall now intends to take this Keep by force and has invaded your lands. Your forces will not hold up long. What you are asked to do is go out to the battle and kill Lord Roenall, thus ending the invasion. Captain Cernick asks that you go out to help with the battle. Just past the drawbridge you'll find the two opposing forces. After Roenall taunts you, attack him with everything you have. All you have to do is kill him and the battle ends. Roenall - 12,000 exp Full Plate Mail +1 Bastard Sword +1 Back inside you are told the Keep is yours forever more (assuming you don't tax yourself into a revolt) and you get 50,000 exp. Be sure to search Roenall afterwards. The Keep is now yours forever, to generate an income, and be a base of operations. Priest --> Cult at the Temple District Normally when you go to the Temple District you see a cult form, and a Priest of Helm talks to you. Well when you go here as a Priest, a representative from your Temple (ie Lathander) tells you to come with him. Return to whomever gave you the quest to accept your reward (I got 8000 gold from Lathander as well as a Reputation +1). They then give you a room in the temple and you are part of the temple now. Then talk to their Acolyte to learn what you need to be doing now. Lathander - Acolyte Lara Helm - Acolyte Byron Talos - Acolyte Vilon You then have to meet with some people and help them out. Talk to the person, decide on a course of action. Then wait until they return to tell you the results. After 24 hours or so, the Acolyte will return to grade your performance. (The people are the same in all temples, however the reward for what you have them do changes) Note: If you do something that the church you are a member of doesn't like (such as a Priest of Lathander telling someone to "kill all the witnesses") then you will be stripped of your title. Lathander: (best choices) Glinden - Wife is unfaithful. Tell him to forgive her and let her do as she will. Later the Acolyte comes and evaluates your performance. (20,000 exp) Ti'Vael - Killed a man. Have him pay restitution to the man's family. 48 hours he returns. (20,000 exp) Rania - Lost her faith. Give her time to think about things. 48 hours later Acolyte Lara reappears and gives you 20,000 exp. Cortirso - You were instantly promoted over this gentleman in the church, and he demands satisfaction (a duel). Don't fight him and Lara will give you 20,000 exp. Lara then gives you the task to assassinate the Weathermistress Ada, chief of the Talos Temple. Every follower of Talos is now your enemy. Head over to the Temple and kill Ada. Return to Lara for your reward: 1000 gold and 35,000 experience. Helm: (best choices) Glinden - Wife is unfaithful. Tell him to remind his wife of their vows. Byron will return later and give you 20,000 exp. Ti'Vael - Killed a man. Tell him to turn himself in to the authorities. Byron gives you 20,000 exp. Rania - Lost her faith. Stress the importance of duty and following. She doesn't like it that much, but Helm does. Byron returns later to give you 20,000 experience. Cortirso - You were instantly promoted over this gentleman in the church, and he demands satisfaction (a duel). Accept his challenge and kill him. Byron then gives you 20,000 experience for following Helm. You are then given the task of protecting the Temple of Lathander from an attack of Talos. Also you must prevent the Lathandites from gaining revenge on Talos after the attack. Head over to the Temple of Lathander and prevent the assault from going through. Then talk to Lara and talk her out of assassinating Ada. (2,1) Return to Byron to get 1000 gold and 35,000 experience. Talos: (best choices) Glinden - Wife is unfaithful. Tell him to murder his wife AND her lover, then when the Inspector shows up turn Glinden in for a reward. You get 200 gold and 20,000 experience when Vilon returns. Ti'Vael - Killed a man. Tell him to kill all the witnesses to his crime. Then when he returns to you, kill him. Then take his head to the government district and give it to the inspector. Return to the temple. When Vilon returns you get 500 gold and 20,000 exp. Rania - Crisis of faith. Kill her for her lack of faith (oh, and keep her head around). Cortirso - You were instantly promoted over this gentleman in the church, and he demands satisfaction (a duel). Now take Rania's head to the Inspector and frame Cortirso for the murder. Vilon will give you 30,000 experience for this clever action. Now you are told to go assassinate Dawnmaster Kreel of the Lathander temple. Go do so, and you have to attack every follower of Lathander on your way there. Return to get your reward of 35,000 experience and 2000 gold. Paladin --> Order of the Radiant Heart Talk to Lord Jierdan in the Copper Coronet (Slums) to get this ball rolling. Finish the quest and return to Garren, who now offers to help you enter the Order of the Radiant Heart. Your Paladin special abilities will also be increased. Do NOT kill Firkraag until you are asked to. Note: Although it says that your abilities are increased, nothing appears to happen. Go to the Radiant Heart and talk to Prelate Wesselan in the top left side room. Agree to what he says, then go talk to William Reirrac. You are given a small room in the Order and started out doing quests: Event 1: Go to Umar Hills and rescue Knights from an attack. When you arrive at the Umar Hills, a runner immediately takes you to the site of the battle. There are Orgs, Ogre Mages and Ettins around. Kill them and try to keep the other Knights alive. Return to Reirrac to get your reward: 10,000 exp. Event 2: Reirrac now wants you to go back to Umar Hills to meet a Baron in the Inn. This Baron wants you to remove some Squatters from his land. Talk to Brunson, Pardo and Moreno outside of the Inn before going inside and speaking with the Baron. When speaking with the Baron tell him everything you have learned from outside, and Lanka will turn against him. A fight breaks out, kill the Baron. Him and his goons range in experience from 3400 to 8000 and have some very minor treasures. Go outside and the farmers will thank you. Return to the Radiant Heart. Tell Reirrac what occurred to get 25,500 experience. (If you didn't talk to the farmers and help the Baron remove them then you get a mere 10,000 experience, if you DID talk to the farmers but removed them anyway you get 15,000 exp) Event 3: The Morningales are being slaughtered for opposing the slave trade. Only one member of this family has survived, Tyrianna. Head out to the Docks district. Enter the house just to the right of the Temple of Oghma. Once inside you get to meet the "pleasant" Tyrianna. Soon you will be attacked by assassins, which can be easily dispatched. Then Tyrianna's godfather, Hurgis arrives. There are two possibilities here, 1) he may be an evil assassin, or 2) he has no proof of his identity, but doesn't detect as evil. So, cast Detect Evil to see which he is. If he detects as evil he is an assassin that must be killed, otherwise hand her over to him and return to the Order. Talk to Reirrac to get a reward: Pride of the Legion +2 (Plate Mail with AC of -1) and a Large Shield +2. If you had "Fallen" then your Paladin abilities will be regained. Event 4: The final event is to retrieve the Avenger from the Red Dragon Firkraag. Return to the dragon's lair and go up to the dragon. Make your battle preparations. Now pause it, click on the dragon as though you were going to talk to it, then switch over and have everyone attack it instead. If it works right, he'll wait for you to talk to it, while you are busy pummeling him! Firkraag - 64,000 exp Red Dragon Scales Holy Avenger +5 Cloak of the Shield 1500 gold Spells - Invisible Stalker (Mage) Return to Reirrac to get some experience (35,000). Take the Scales to the Docks area and have Cromwell make it into the Red Scale Armor. (AC of -1) Thief --> Shadow Thieves Guild (at the Docks) Go over to the Shadow Thieves Guild at the Docks (they'll let you in since you know Gaelan). Go to the back of the Guild, and up the stairs. (or you could just go in the side door) Talk to Renal Bloodscalp and finish up his quests. At the end of which, Renal gives you control of Mae'Var's former guild as well as 10,500 gold to get it up and running. When he says he wants a profit out of you, he means it! Everyone in your party also gets 45,500 experience. Go to your new Thieves Guild. You now have a new guard outside, Brannel (whom you can chastise if you feel like it). Go inside, and then open the top door to talk to Jariel. Jariel explains the workings of your guild, that you direct your thieves activities (high risk or low risk), bail them out of jail, etc. At the beginning the thieves are at the Low Risk level, just covering the quota. You are also offered the chance to change your 5 thieving groups level of risks (one option at a time). The more risk involved, the more money you can collect. Once that is done, come back in 5 days. Collect your money from Jariel, and possibly bail someone out of a jam. Then wait for Joster to arrive and pay him your dues. (You will receive a message above your head saying that he has arrived. When you get that he appears next to Jariel) Thieving Probabilities: (based on what you assign them in conversation with Jariel) Gold Gained % success % jailed Hz: Gh: Kr: Ma: Va: Thread: (2,1,2): 90% 10% 200 200 250 100 150 Thread: (2,1,1): 80% 20% 400 300 500 250 300 Thread: (2,2,2): 80% 20% 400 300 500 250 300 Thread: (1,1,2): 80% 20% 400 300 500 250 300 Thread: (1,1,1): 65% 35% 600 500 750 500 500 Thread: (1,2,2): 65% 35% 600 500 750 500 500 Thread: (2,2,1): 65% 35% 600 500 750 500 500 Thread: (1,2,1): 50% 50% 900 750 1000 750 800 Cost to bail out: ................ 100 200 50 250 300 Quotas: 1: 500 gold 2: 500 gold 3: 1000 gold 4: 1000 gold 5: 350 gold Every time after is random: 50% - 500 gold 20% - 900 20% - 300 10% - 1000 If you fail to pay your Quota, then you lose your Thieves Guild. To max out your returns, have all your first three thieves go for the highest risk (1,2,1). If you want to see some more Money Charts to support this, check out the Appendix. Note: You can charm the person give the Shadow Thieves' tribute to if you have the thief stronghold. Then take him out of your guild (using charm) and away from any out of the sight of any of your guildmembers. Then attack him with no reputation loss. As long as none of your thieves see him die, you're fine. [from Nathaniel Ragatz] Beyond that there are also events to deal with: Event 1 - Talk to Lathan (the other thief by Jariel) and he mentions that he is your "eyes and ears". He has nothing to report, but soon another thief, named Ama, appears. She wants you to help take out a government official. Simply meet her any night after this in Waukeen's Promenade. If you saved Kamuzu from the cells that Mae'Var kept, then he will warn you NOT to trust her. Gee, someone betraying you? Haven't seen THAT before! Anyway, at night, wander over to Waukeen's Promenade. She'll appear and ask that you put your weapons away, supposedly to not scare someone. Yeah, her. Soon, you will be attacked by 6 assassins. They have some minor treasures. Event 2 - Talk to Lathan again, and tell him to never let such things happen again. Then he has a bit of a problem, a pickpocket is keeping profits from you. The pickpockets know who is stealing but won't tell you. You have four options here: Kill them all, kill one of them (your choice), dock their pay or let their supervisor, Kretor, fix it. It takes 5 days to get results. (The thief is Darronal Gwin II) If you dock their pay, the thieves will "fix" this problem on their own, by killing the thief. If you choose to do nothing or kill all the thieves, Kretor will quit and you lose one of your thieving divisions. This will make getting your quota that much harder. If you kill the wrong thief, then Kretor will quit. If you choose to kill Darronal Gwin then the profit skimming ends. And that is that for the Thieves Guild. Ranger --> Umar Hills Quest (start at Government District) Talk to Delon in the Government District (near the statue) to get the ball rolling on this one, then go to Umar Hills and complete the quests there to gain control of the Ranger Cabin. When you beat the Shade Lord talk to Minister Lloid and he'll give you the cabin. Note: Do NOT give the kids in Imnesvale beer or swords, or you could get kicked out of your stronghold! Search the cabin again to find new magical items, some gold and a scroll from the townspeople. If you fail to make it back after you are told of an event here, they will board up your cabin and you won't be the Ranger Protector anymore. Event 1: After three days you can find Mairyn in your cabin. Mairyn is a spirit of the forest and needs your help. Humans are tearing down her forest in the Temple Ruins area. I found the "humans" in the south center of the area. Talk to Lord Igen Tomblethen. Then search to the east of him (x 3875 y 2315) to find a mithril medallion and a note from his ancestor. Give him the medallion and don't accept a reward of gold to get 10,000 exp. Return to your cabin, talk to Mairyn again to get another 21,500 experience. Event 2: Three days later Delon comes up to you again and asks you to come back to Imnesvale to deal with some Orcs. You have three days from the time you get the message to get back, else they strip you of your cabin. Talk to Minister Lloid who will apprise you on the situation. Head out to the cave (x 1600 y 1300). At the outside of the cave you will find Orogs. Go into the cave. Talk to Madulf inside to get 21,750 experience. Talk to Minister Lloid again to get another 25,000 exp. (this works out a little differently if you killed Madulf before, of course, you only get 20,000 exp when talking to Lloid) Event 3: About 5 days later Delon comes to you and asks you to return. It seems that the Umar Witch has returned. Go talk to Minister Lloid again. Now go to the Temple Ruins again. Before you enter the ruins, Mairyn appears and asks the same thing. Enter. There are many undead in here, as well as a Glabrezu (demon). You will find Umar at the Crystal (x 760 y 1250). Talk to her, but be ready for a fight. Turns out she is just some minor mageling. Kill her and return to the surface. Mairyn will then reward you with a Moon Dog figurine, Reputation +1 and 26,750 exp. If you were a Fallen Ranger this will also restore your Rangerhood. Minister Lloid offers no reward this time. Moon Dog -- Cerebus STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 17 17 9 9 9 9 THAC0 HP AC Attacks Weapon 11 74 0 1 3d4 (strikes as +1) Saves: Death - 6, Wand - 8, Polymorph - 7, Breath - 7, Spells - 9 Resistances: All Physical Damage - 25% Magic - 25% Immunities: Charm, Fear, Poison, Normal Weapons Special Abilities: Healing Lick 3 Moon Dog Howl 1 Moon Dog Sight (True Sight) 1 Improved Invisibility 1 Mirror Image 1 And that is that. Wizard --> The Planar Sphere Talk to the Cowled Wizard in the main government building and agree to track Valygar. Complete this quest as normal (oh, and keep the Solamnic Knights alive). Once the Sphere quest is completely finished, go back inside and talk to the Knights. They want you to find them their way home (naturally), although the Planar Sphere is no longer capable of such an action. Then the wizard Teos appears with an offer. He proposes an alliance between you and the Cowled Wizards. Accept. Then ask for his help in returning the Knights to their home and he refers you to Ribald at the Adventurer's Mart. Event 1: Return the Solamnic Knights to their home. Go to the adventurer's mart and talk to Ribald there. For the price of 9000 gold he will send a mage out to your Sphere tomorrow. Exactly 24 hours later, the mage teleports herself directly into the room where the Knights are. Talk with her and send the Knights home. You get 45,000 exp and a Golden Girdle as reward. Exploit: There is a way to get experience for this one repeatedly. After talking to her once, before she is completely teleported away, simply talk to her again. As many times as you can talk to her you get experience and a Girdle. Alternatively you can talk to Prelate Wessalan at the Radiant Heart and ask him to let the Knights live there. Tell the knights and you get 45,000 exp. (Therefore the Mage is better, not only do you get a Girdle, but there's a chance for multiple experience!) Training Apprentices: 16 hours after getting the Sphere (give or take), Teos will appear in the Sphere with three apprentices for you to train, Morul, Larz and Nara. Teos leaves but promises to return several times over the next few weeks. You now have to decide what to have your Apprentices make: cost time to complete Wand of the Apprenti -- 1000 gold -- 4 days Dagger of-- 250 gold -- 4 days Ring of Protection -- 2000 gold -- 4 to 5 days There is a random chance that they will fail to make whatever they are working on, no matter how easy. When they make the Ring of Protection, Larz gets vaporized (whether they succeed in making the ring or not). Note: You can tell if they are going to succeed in their tasks, if when they tell you how long it will take they say it will take a "few days". If they say "few days" then they will succeed, if they say "4 days" then they will fail. (this works for the final choice as well) Next they want to know which spell to transcribe: Mislead -- 250 gold -- 4 days Abi Dalzim's ... -- 1000 gold -- 4 to 5 days Meteor Swarm -- 2500 gold -- 4 to 5 days They will then give you a scroll of whichever spell you assigned. If learning Meteor Swarm, Nara will be exploded. Finally there is one last artifact they want to try: Robe of the Apprenti -- 250 gold -- 4 days Ring of Wizardry -- 3000 gold -- 4 days Staff of Power -- 10000 gold -- 4 days Nothing (the only way they'll all live to graduate) Whether these objects are completed depends on how many Apprenti have survived: the more, the better the odds. But still whether the objects are completed is random. The Robe of the Apprenti kills Larz. The Ring of Wizardry requires that all Apprenti be alive, and it will kill Nara and Larz to make it. The Staff of Power requires all Apprenti to be alive to make. (else it results in a bug while creating) Then it kills all three Apprenti, but you MAY get the Staff! (random chance and all) A day after killing them all, Teos returns to chide you (though he doesn't seem to care). If any of your Apprenti survived your training, then Teos will hold the Graduation Ceremony in the Sphere, about 5 minutes after appearing. If all survived, then Graduation happens, but is quite a bit more heartwarming. Funny too. For your trouble you get 50,000 exp. (you only get Exp if you kept them all alive, if only 2 survive you get nothing, if 1 survive you get nothing) If Morul survives, he will return again after you complete the rest of the Stronghold as an Apprentice and every week he will make you potions. I hear that he won't appear if you have fought Cowled Wizards (the ones who appear in the streets when you cast a spell). Event 3 - Two days later a messenger tells you to return to the Sphere (therefore if you are IN the sphere after two days, you'll need to leave it). Return to the Sphere. Teos appears, but he seems to be as confused about this as you are. Soon it becomes clear that you have both been set up for an ambush as the messenger reappears with a lot of backup. Teos manages to hide during the battle, and reappears when you have won. This attack was precipitated by an anti-magic fanatic, Lord Argrim. Teos wants you to take him out, not kill, but remove him from existence with a Rune that he gives you. You can find Argrim in the Inn at the City Gates, upstairs. Have someone use the Rune on him (put it in the Quick Item slot), then kill his guards. Return to the Sphere and talk to Teos. Whether you killed Argrim or Mazed him makes no difference, you get 7500 experience either way. Then he tells you what happened to Imoen. After that, Morul reappears and offers to join you as an apprentice again. He makes potions every week. There are four random sets of potions that he can give you, each has 5 potions in it: Set One: Set Two: 2 Potions of Genius Empty Potion Bottle Oil of Speed Potion of Firebreath Elixir of Health Potion of Agility Potion of Fire Resistance Potion of Defense Potion of Cold Resist Set Three: Set Four: Potion of Extra Healing Potion of Genius *Potion of Invulnerability Potion of Regeneration Potion of Insight Potion of Stone Form Potion of Perception Potion/Frost Giant STR Potion of Master Thievery Potion/Invulnerability * Set Three's Potion of Invulnerability is Cursed Note: If you killed Agrim in the final Event, instead of imprisoning him, then Morul will NOT appear. (Henning Roes) And that is that for the Mage Stronghold. Bard --> Theatre beneath Five Flagons Go to the Bridge District and into the Five Flagons. There you will find a Theatre in the basement. Watch the horrible show and listen to Raelis Shai's plea for help. Complete this quest and you will get control of the theatre. Once you are back in the theatre, the owner of the Five Flagons, Samuel Thunderburp asks what is going on. You can tell him that you were given the Deed to the Theatre by Raelis before she left for Sigil. He also sends Higgold the famous director to talk to you. He tells you to bring money in half a week. Whenever you are needed, Higgold sends a boy out to bring you back in. Each event is about 4 to 6 days apart. Do NOT delay in getting there once the messenger talks to you, else the play quality will suffer. You get THREE DAYS from the time you are given the message until the play suffers from your absence. The Play Quality determines how well the play does in the end, and how much money you will earn from it later. To determine your Play Quality, talk to the actors in the back. The more confidant they sound, the better the play. They have three separate comments: one is really depressed, the other is unsure of themselves and the last they are super happy about life. Here are the events: Event 1: Choose who to star: Naive Jenna or Actress Iltheia. Sure, Jenna might be the sympathetic favorite, but Iltheia will net you a better play in the end. How much money to invest: the minimum is 1000gp, but you can spend up to 10,000 gp. Naturally the more you spend the better. Event 2: Solve the jealousy between Jenna and Iltheia. If Iltheia is playing the small role and you put her in the larger one you improve the quality of the play and get 6750 exp. Force Iltheia to accept her small role for 15,750 exp and improve the Play Quality. Expand her role for a mere 6750 exp, however the Play Quality will suffer. If Jenna is in the small role and you put her in the larger one, you get 6750 experience but hurt the quality of the play. Letting them solve things on their own cuts the quality and nets you no experience. If Iltheia is in the lead, don't threaten her or the play quality will dip. Compliment her for 11,500 experience. Then you have to give her 500 gp, but it further improves the Play. Event 3: Zeran is improvising. Allow him to rewrite the play for 15,750 exp and improve the Quality of the Play a lot. Allow him to keep improvising for 11,500 exp and improve the quality of the play slightly. Stop his improvisation and you get NO experience and the Play Quality slips a little. Event 4: Everyone is rewriting their characters. Have faith in Zeran's changes, with a charisma of 17 or better and the quality of the play improves. Stop all changes for 11,500 exp. Stop the changes and pay them 500 gp as a bonus gets you 11,500 exp as well, this also improves the quality of the Play. Threaten to "let them walk out" and you get no exp and the Quality of the Play drops. You can also take control of the rewrites yourself, and if your Charisma is 17 or better then you will also improve the quality of the play and get 11,500 exp. Event 5: The curse? Lots of weird things are going on, and a Priest offers to cleanse the theatre for 1000 gp. Give him the gold and get 11,500 exp and improve the play quality. If you have a high charisma you can get away with giving her 500 gp for 11,500 exp, but no change in Play Quality. If you can't afford to pay and have a high charisma you can give her nothing and still improve the Play Quality. If you send her packing, or have a low charisma you will hurt the play quality quite a bit. Event 6: Problems with the music. Your musician has vanished. Hiring Balmitance (the famous musician) has a great effect on the Play Quality and nets you 15,500 exp at a cost of only 500 gold. Making Marcus write the score hurts the Play Quality quite a bit. If your Intelligence is 15 or less then letting Marcus play while you write really hurts the play and gets you no experience. If your INT is 16 or 17 you get 6750 exp and a slight improvement to Quality. At 18 INT letting Marcus play the Harp while you rewrite the music for 11,500 exp. 19 or better INT gets you the best experience 15,500 and a better improvement to play quality (thought not so good as hiring the famous musician!). 30 or so days later... Event 7: Barbarians have invaded the Theatre. You meet Higgold on the main level of the Five Flagons this time and he begs for you to get rid of the barbarians who have taken control. Go downstairs, clean out the five goons here (including one mage) and get 15,500 exp. Event 8: A day later you can watch the dress rehearsal. (You could take notes on what is being said... it's kinda important! Or you could just continue using this FAQ) Event 9: Within three days (rather than the week you were promised) you are summoned again. And again he is on the main floor. Seems a major player at the City Council is going to attend and Zeran is ill. You must take up the role of the wizard (whether you are male or female it doesn't matter). The Play: Since you are now in the role of the wizard, that means you have LINES to perform. Weren't paying attention in the dress rehearsal? Your lines are: 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1 The City Council person speaks, and depending on how YOU personally did you get experience: 49,500 experience (near flawless) 35,500 exp (several mistakes) 19,500 exp (many mistakes) If you get the "near flawless", you also are given a gift, the Aslaer's Harp. Next the overall quality of the play is judged: 50,000 experience (near perfection) 29,500 experience (not quite perfect) 19,500 experience (not even close to perfect) Finally Higgold offers to buy the theatre off of you for 10,000 gold. (If you got the "near perfection" score, anyway) This is totally up to you. How much money the Theatre generates during a week depends entirely upon how much you invested at the start and the quality of the play. The more you invest, the better the return. If you invested the maximum of 10,000 and had a phenomenal play, the max amount per week is 1800 gp/week. Every week past the first, the gold/week drops by 100 gold until it hits 500 gold/week where it will remain. And that is that for the Bard's Theatre. Druid --> Druid Grove (start at City Gate) Talk to the man at the city gate to learn of the problems at Trademeet. Complete that quest to gain access to the Druid Grove. Your Druid MUST be at least level 14 to take control of the Grove (but it isn't necessary to clear the Trademeet quest). At the normal completion of clearing the grove you get the Staff of Thunder and Lighting. Note: If you complete the Druid Grove Quest, but are lower than level 14 you can't take control of the Grove. However, once you hit level 14 a Druid will arrive to tell you to go to the Grove. Challenge the Druid to a duel to assume control of the Grove. For beating the Druid you get 10,000 exp. For becoming the Great Druid you get another 20,000 exp and 10,000 gold as well as a Cleric's Staff +3 and a Ring of Protection +2. Event 1: Within 8 hours the Spirit of the Grove will come to you and ask if you accept your responsibilities. By all means, accept! She then challenges you to take out the new leader of the Trolls, Nilthiri. To help you with this task she gives you a club, The Root of the Problem, which has special powers vs. unnatural creatures (like trolls). If you didn't go by there earlier, the Troll Mound is almost exactly south of the Druid Grove. (though you have to go around to get there) Don't bother with going inside the Mound. Make sure you have some method of killing Trolls, Fire or Acid. (arrows, spells, weapons that do fire or acid damage) From the Mound go right until you find Nilthiri, the Troll Shaman. Kill Nilthiri and her trolls (10,000 exp for Nil.) and the Spirit will return and say "good job." (she also gives everyone in your party 18,500 Quest Experience points) That's it for now. (oddly, after this I went back to the Grove and talked to the Challenge Master again, and he gave me the reward for becoming the Great Druid again! Very odd, but nice!) Event 2: About 9 days later (maybe 10) sleep within the Grove again and the Spirit will ask you to do another task. This time the descendent of a great druid is in danger, the child Loren. You must go to Trademeet to protect this child. Loren is found outside of the city walls, just to the right of the Yellow Tent. Ask the child about the voices he hears, and then tell him to fight the voices so that you can face them. (3,1,1,1,1) Loren falls unconscious and Chaos appears. Chaos turns into an odd phased-Beholder like creature and attacks. (12,000 exp) When it is dead, the Spirit returns and rewards you with a Golden Lion Figurine (summons a Lion for 5 min, just like the Moon Dog figurine). Also every character is given 20,500 Quest Experience points. Golden Lion Figurine -- Joolon STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 9 9 9 9 9 THAC0 HP AC Attacks Weapon 15 45 6 3 1d12 (strikes as +1) Saves: Death - 13, Wand - 15, Polymorph - 14, Breath - 16, Spells - 16 Resistances: -- Immunities: Charm, Fear, Poison, Normal Weapons Special Abilities: Cloak of Fear - 1 Blur - 1 Although the Spirit mentions a ceremony of Ascendancy (for Archdruids), that appears to be all you can do in the Druid Grove. Vash (on the GameFAQs Message Board) found a way to get two Strongholds: I took a break from my main game to experiment with the much heralded dualled Kensai/Mage. Very powerful, and I can only imagine how powerful he'd be with his defenses after Tenser's Transformation kicks in. Anyway, part of the experimenting was to see if he can get a stronghold for each class and I found he can. He cleared out the de'Arnise keep first with Nalia in the group, but initially refused to take over (I believe the response used was something along the lines of ''I don't think I'm the right person for this''). Note: You could also simply not talk to her after clearing out the Stronghold. (Robert Pay) Then he went and cleared the Planar Sphere immediately after. At the end, he was granted the Sphere by Lavok and it became the character's stronghold. I found that if I accepted the keep from Nalia first, Lavok did not grant the Sphere. Then, I went back to the de'Arnise keep and told Nalia I would agree to her proposition to lend his name to the keep and the keep became his stronghold as well. So in the end, I ended up with two strongholds. Rabbit on the Shadowkeeper Message board has a cheating way to get all Strongholds: To get all 8 strongholds you must do the following: 1. When talking to the person who gives the stronghold quest, and when talking to the person who ends the quest, use Shadow Keeper to give yourself the appropriate class. 2. After getting each stronghold, you must set the stronghold flag back to zero by typing the following into the debug console: CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("PlayerHasStronghold","GLOBAL",0) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X2. [THLMTD] The Limited Wish Adventure ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- This quest can be done whenever you feel like it, in either chapters 2, 3 or 6. You must have the Mercenaries of Riatavin still alive in Delosar's Inn. Then cast Limited Wish, ask for a One-Time wish and select the Adventure like you've never had before (it does require 10 or better WIS to cast). A scroll appears at your feet. Walkthrough: ------------ - THE SCROLL Reading the scroll reveals several things about this quest: One, it is about a gong, two, you should talk to the mercenaries of Riatavin at the Delosar's Inn (Bridge) and three, there is someone named Captain Dennis who should have the Gong. Head out to the Bridge District and go near the Delosar's Inn. (x 1830 y 2880) Just outside you will meet with a man named Vittorio who asks for your help in collecting money off of Dennis, who is inside. Agree to help him and follow him inside. - DENNIS Captain Dennis and Vittorio are having a shouting match when you enter. Listen to what they say. Seems that Vittorio stole and sold Dennis' mother's gong in order to buy ale. That sounds bad. Agree to help Vittorio find the gong. He says that he sold it to one Roger the Fence, who you will find in the sewers beneath the Temple District. - ROGER THE FENCE Go to the Temple District and enter the sewers. You will find Roger in the southern part of the sewers (x 1680 y 2300). Ask for a Gong and say that you want Vittorio's gong. He doesn't have it, and won't tell you where it is until you take care of a small problem he has. He wants you to kill a local Sea Troll before he'll tell you anything. This troll can be found by going left from Roger (x 400 y 2366). When it is good and dead, return to Roger. Aside from whatever rewards you get for killing the Troll (see the Sewers section above) he will also tell you that he sold the gong to a Troll Shaman in the Troll Mound out by Trademeet (you will probably have to talk to him again to get him to reveal that). Head out of the city and over to the Druid Grove (which may require going through Trademeet). - THE TROLL SHAMAN At the Druid Grove, head left to find the Troll Mound (x 1330 y 2210). Grae, the shaman, will be just outside of the mound. When asked about the Gong she attacks you instead of giving it to you. When it gets close to being defeated it tells you where the Gong is in exchange for its life. (you can always kill it anyway) She says that she sold it to an Ogre Mage in a tower to the northeast of here. - OGRE MAGE Wander north, then east, across the bridge to find the big house. We don't want to enter the house, we want the tower that is south of it. (x 4840 y 1270) (There is a little path leading southwards just past the bridge) Enter the tower. This Ogre Mage is quite the peaceable sort and is quite willing to trade the Gong for a Wand of Frost. If you have a Wand of Frost, then you can trade for the gong. (12,250 exp) Oh and don't mind the smell. Also in here you can find: Scimitar +2: Belm (+1 attack per round) Tip: Belm makes a great off-hand weapon, especially for Thieves (and other characters who don't normally get multiple attacks). Return to the Bridge District and give the gong back to Vittorio. Everyone is happy and you get your reward: 1500 gold 16,500 experience for each character Boomerang Dagger +2 =============================================================================== < < < < [THRNFB] Throne of Bhaal Walkthrough > > > > =============================================================================== Note: Throughout the game, Imoen will be developing powers like you did in the original Baldur's Gate. These are small things, like Cure Light Wounds, but it is interesting to note. Bugs Note: Due to a wide number of bugs in the game, it is HIGHLY recommended that you NOT use the Quick Save feature, and simply create new save slots as you go (from the options menu). TAB Note: Remember to use your new TAB function. It will highlight all doors, containers and items around. Very helpful. Duplication Bug: I mention this here, because it can be very interesting. Now, when you are in battle, then flee to another area, not only will the enemies follow you (which they did in BG2:SoA), but now the original enemies will remain in the old area. Result? Two enemies of the same kind! Therefore if you want to kill the City Gates Lich over and over and over... you can. Or if you want to get 2 Celestial Furies, you can do that too. Just draw the enemies to you, flee to the previous area and wait for them to join you. This was removed in the patch. I wrote this using my Barbarian. Luckily for me (I'll explain why) I had kept a save at the VERY end of the game (just before you open up hell and fight the final battle). So I just loaded this up, beat SoA and took that into the expansion. If you simply start an expansion game, or even import a game into the expansion YOU WON'T GET ALL THE BONUSES from the end of the game. Therefore I suggest you do what I did. You should have a "Final Save" created when you beat the game the first time. (Although your alignment might be altered depending on how you beat the first game) If you start an Expansion Only game you begin down in section 2. The Grove of the Ancients. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. [WTCHRK] Watcher's Keep (AR 3000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Most of the good items found in Throne of Bhaal are located right here in the Watcher's Keep. (and many can be made even better by your abyssal butler, Cespenar) Also, if you start the expansion right away, you'll be taken to the next section, the Forest. Watcher's Keep is listed first since it can be accessed from the regular game as well. Walkthrough: ------------ - A MYSTERIOUS KEEP Go up and talk to "Brother" Ordren, who explains the whole sticky situation to you. Helm has sealed some great and powerful evil in the Watcher's Keep, that is gradually getting free. It is your job to enter the Keep and prevent the Evil from getting out. Oh, and they tell you specifically NOT to kill it, as Helm has forbidden it. Agree to help them and they'll take you to the top (Level 1). They give you what you will need, and bid you good luck. Talk to Brother Pol to get the Holy Symbol and the Scroll. These items are needed. When you reach the evil, you are to perform a ritual to deal with it. You don't kill it. At this point, you can talk to them again and ask questions, or talk to the Sister to buy items and so forth. Note: Two of the items that she sells, Firetooth +4 and the Short Sword of the Mask are items that can be upgraded by your abyssal servant Cespenar (if you haven't gotten your Pocket Plane, the Abyssal Fortress, then you won't know what I'm talking about). When you're ready, enter the Keep. - LEVEL ONE (AR 3001) The difficulty of the keep depends on several things, your preset difficulty level, the number of people in your party, your level, and your experience. The puzzles don't get any easier on the other difficulty modes... if you're wondering. The entrance to the next level is the Mirror Portal (x 1450 y 1150), however there are quite a number of things that must be done first. Note: There are many traps on this level, most are attached to the various containers, although there are 2 traps on the ground. Open the left door to find the ghost Archivist. (x 1925 y 1860) Talk to him, but he is simply Cold. We'll have to remedy that. There are 4 containers in this room, 2 are trapped. Take whatever treasure you want, but be sure to get the: Paladin's Bracers (+10 HP, paladins only, upgradeable by Cespenar) The next room had a Stone Golem in it. Not too tough. Open the next door (x 1530 y 2010) and enter a library type room. There will be some monsters here. The shelves on the right side have some Notes with Clues. Also note Elminster's Ecologies (there's one in the next room as well), which explain some of the properties of the new Monsters. Be sure to check the shelf at (x 1330 y 1590) for the wonderful: Golem Manual (creates Flesh Golems, upgradeable by Cespenar) Also check the Treasure chest near the end of this room for more treasure and another note. Open the next door (x 888 y 1574) and proceed. Yes, that statue is watching you. There are 3 containers in here, and the one at (x 625 y 1140) is trapped: Case of Plenty +1 (unlimited +1 bolts, upgradeable by Cespenar) You need to get the Bell at (x 450 y 1250). The final container in this room, a trapped chest (x 775 y 1200) contains: Crimson Dart +3 (returns to owner) History of the Imprisoned One (in case you're curious) Potion of Superior Healing Chainmail +2 more treasures... Open the door to the right (x 840 y 1220) and go through. Depending on your level, there will be all sorts of statues in this, the central hall. Worry about it later, go up to the door on the left side (x 670 y 900). Get the Candle in the chest by the fireplace (x 340 y 1050). There are other minor treasures in here, and a fireplace. Go back. Across the hall, enter the middle door (x 1620 y 865). This room has several traps on the floor, so beware. Also, of the 4 containers in here 2 are trapped. Get the Slippers from the left shelf (x 1550 y 750). The trapped armoire (x 1840 y 600) has: Quiver of Plenty +1 (unlimited +1 arrows, upgradeable by Cespenar) Handwritten Note The trapped alcove (x 1980 y 580) has: Ammo Belt (actually a container that holds arrows, bolts, etc.) Tinderbox (if only we had a fireplace... wait a second!) Open the lower door and enter another library. Kill anything moving in here (I got spiders). Search the shelf at (x 2240 y 920) to find: Wardstone The other shelf in here has a Potion of Superior Healing. Open the next door and hit the almost-final room. Search the Armoire (x 2775 y 1210) to find: Wardstone Potion of Superior Healing The other container, a shelf, has the final Tattered Parchment, if you're curious. Open the door to the left and hit the final room. Search the armoire by the door (x 2610 y 1485) for: Key 4 Potions Extra Healing King's Tears The table has a Handwritten Note. Go back to the large hallway. Almost ready to do the ritual. Go back to the Fireplace room, and click on the fireplace to light it (Tinderbox...). This summons the Archivist who is now quite conversant. He'll tell you about the old Priest, and a little about how to reach the next level. Open up the large door on the top of the right side (x 1375 y 730). Enter. This is the burial place of the High Priest, complete with Guardian Golems. The alcove over to the left (x 1040 y 430) has the final Handwritten Note. When you're ready, click the Sarcophagus to open it. The golems come alive, and attack you. They're each worth 13,000 experience. Open the Sarcophagus. This causes the resident of the tomb to arrive and chide you for waking him up. He notices that you have his slippers, and asks for them. Give them up. This is worth 20,000 quest experience, and he leaves you alone to your graverobbing. Click the Sarcophagus one last time to get the Mental Note. This is worth 8,000 quest experience. Note: If the guardians DON'T come alive, you can always force-attack them later. Back to the main hallway. Go up to the altar at the top of the room, open it and place the Bell and Candle in it. When that is done, the statues come alive and attack you. Destroy them. When the statues that came alive are dead, the giant statue talks to you and asks for the ritual: Ring the Bell Ring the Bell Light the Candle Open the Book (only works if you opened the Sarcophagus) Ring the Bell That completes the ritual, and opens the Mirrored Portal to the next level. This is worth 25,000 quest experience. At this point, the rest of the statues came alive and attacked me. This was a much more difficult battle, and you should definitely take care of the mages first. Also they had some interesting equipment: Usuno's Blade +4 (scimitar) Foebane +3 (Bastard Sword, upgradeable by Cespenar) Whenever you are ready, go on down. This requires that you got the Vigil Stone from Pol. If you don't have it, exit and talk to Pol to get it. Note: If you want to rest (and this would be a good time), go to the Protected Room in the right corner. - LEVEL TWO (AR 3016) As you appear, a Chromatic Demon talks to you. He is the only thing that can get you to the next level, but he won't do that until you do a little something for him. He has been trapped in this place for a thousand years and it isn't where he thought his life was heading. Naturally he wants your help in getting out. Sounds fair. He needs you to get him out of his cage. Agree to it. You need to find the Four Scepters and place them in the slots around his cage. Only then will he allow you entrance to the next level. Note: If you want to go back, use the Portal to the Left. Also, beware of Traps! They're everywhere. Enter the room to the southwest (x 1670 y 1850). Careful in here, there are many traps on the floor and containers. Detrap the room. Time to search for treasure, and clues. The top right shelf (x 1600 y 2130) has a Handwritten Note. The top left shelf (x 1325 y 1925) has: Wand of Spell Striking Star Sapphire The small shelf (x 1000 y 2110) has some good stuff: Right Horn (used by Cespenar) Ice Library Note (a Clue!) Read the Ice Library Note to learn how to clear out the Fire room. Essentially you need to deal with the Fire Elementals first, but you can't just kill them or they'd respawn, they must be lured into the Ice Room and frozen there forever. There are other minor treasures in here as well. Back to the center room, now take the upper left (northwest) door (x 1700 y 1350). There are some Fire Giants in here that need killing. This place also has many traps to be dealt with. Enter the room. You'll find an imp in the upper passage here. He'll tell you that the Fan is the key to everything before leaving. Time to search the room. You'll find a Handwritten note on a table (x 1130 y 860). The top of the pillar (x 1260 y 760) has: Wand of Cursing 5 Potions of Superior Healing more treasures... Search the small shelf (x 1370 y 870) to find: Fire Library Note (another Clue!) There are other minor treasures in here. On to the next room (x 2420 y 1350). This room is filled with various types of Golems. It is again trapped quite thoroughly. The Handwritten Note is at (x 3210 y 1000). The Air Library Note is at (x 3000 y 900). This note mentions how you might clear out the poison room, and the usefulness of lightning when dealing with the new slimes found therein. Nothing much else here, go down to the final room (x 2425 y 1840). Here you must deal with some Mutated Spiders. Search the shelf to the right (x 2900 y 1900) to find: Key other treasures Search the far right shelf (x 3225 y 2120) to find: Slime Library Note (the last Clue!) 5 Potions of Extra Healing Read the final note to learn that the demon's Air form is weak against poison and acid. Also you'll learn how to set the fan to blow poison from the Slime Room into the Air room to kill weaken the creatures there. We have everything we need, time to make the most of it. - LEVEL TWO, GAINING THE FOUR SCEPTERS To get to the Fan Room, go into the Red Room (upper left), and up to the door (x 1800 y 675) where the Imp was. Go in and turn the fan. This will get you attacked by several Air Elementals. Kill them to get the: Air Scepter Go up to the fan and click it again to get more air going. This allows you to open the door to the right, into the Slime Library. From there continue going down-right and open the next door into the Slime Room. This room is filled with noxious vapors, and lots of slime/poison related monsters. Quickly open the bottom door in this room to clear it of all its poison. Kill the snake to get: Slime Scepter Also, search the pool of slime to get: Flail Head (Poison, Cespenar can upgrade the Flail of Ages with this) Note: Getting too close to any of the "pools" results in damage taken. In the slime room you get Acid Damage, for instance. Head down to the next, icier door (x 2350 y 2500) and open it. Now, run back to the Fan Room, click the Fan control once to reset it, and click it again to shoot the poison from the poison room into the Ice Room. Sweet. Go back to the Ice Room and kill the monsters there. The poison didn't bother me too much, but you could just stand at the edge of it and attack from there. When the Ice Golem dies you get the: Ice Scepter Left Horn (used by Cespenar) Note: To clear the room of poison, just click the Fan again. Also, the Ice Room has a slowing effect. I'd leave all of your party (save one) in the Ice Room. Open the door to the left, go through the library and up to the next door. Open that. Enter the room, avoid the giant. Wait for a Fire Elemental to appear, then lead it back into the Ice Room, for your waiting party to kill. Wait for the Elemental to FREEZE (there will even be some text to this effect), then attack. The elemental shatters, letting you know you've succeeded. Do this for 4 elementals (it doesn't have to be all at once, or one at a time, just lure as many as you can). Doing that gets you 22,000 experience. When that is done, go up and kill the Fire Giant: Fire Scepter Helm of the Rock (+25% fire, ice, elec. res., upgradeable by Cespenar) 100 gold You now have all 5 scepters. I'd rest, save, then go talk to the Demon. Everyone gets 20,000 experience, and he, of course, attacks you. Who saw that coming? Chromatic Demon -5 AC 140 HP -5 THAC0 4 Attacks 95% weapon res. Your weapons will damage him, but they just won't do much damage. As he is damaged, he will switch forms. Just remember what each form is weak against... Red Demon > Ice Ice Golem > Fire Shambling Mound > Lightning Air Elemental > Poison If you're in ToB, this is an easy enough fight, buff-up beforehand, keep the fighters in the front and use whirlwinds. Three or four fighter types doing 10 hits/round at 4 damage a hit should knock it down fast. Tip: After you have all 4 scepters, but before you free the Chromatic Demon, close the lower door in the poison lab. Then turn off the fan in the air lab so the poison lab is full of gas. Move all but one of your party members out of the way (the fire library works nicely). Then have your remaining character (preferably having them hasted first) release the Chromatic Demon. Lure the Chromatic Demon into the poison lab (via the air library), then exit the poison lab into the air library, closing the door behind you and trapping the Chromatic Demon in the poison lab. Then just sit back and wait for the Chromatic Demon to die. It doesn't take long. (Jeremy Hanson) When he is dead... 55,000 experience Circlet of Netheril (Cespenar can upgrade) Portal Key Ixil's Spike (+2 dagger, Cespenar can upgrade) Whenever you're ready, enter the right portal to the Next Level. - LEVEL THREE (AR 3003) N E / Ooh, Isometric! / W S Our informer on this level is a crazy elf named Yakman. When you talk to him he becomes convinced that you are some demonic illusion out to kill him, causing him to run away. Follow him through the portal (x 1350 y 1100) and try talking to him again. (AR 3011) There is a pile of stuff (x 615 y 630) in the middle of the room: Bard's Gloves (Cespenar can upgrade) There is more treasure up in his tent (x 860 y 360, TRAPPED): Madman's Journal (a Clue!) Diamond Long Sword (you may want to take this... seriously) Scepter of Radiance (you definitely need to take this) other treasures... Once you're done looting, talk to Yakman. You need someone with 16 or more Charisma, or an Elf to get him to trust that you aren't an illusionary demon. Ask all the questions you can, about the Demons, why they fight each other, the level, the way out, the rod and its gems, etc. Next tell him he needs some sleep, to learn that he never sleeps. Offer to heal him, and the conversation ends. (the character who spoke to him MUST be a cleric for this offer to come up) Cast Heal on him and he is back to normal... although you might prefer the insane version (he's quite arrogant). This gets you 5,000 quest experience points. With that he exits the Watcher's Keep to find out if he can restore his old life. Enter the top portal (x 380 y 350) to return to the previous area (the other portal takes you back to the beginning). Note: Resting anywhere in this maze will get you attacked by Succubi (er...), Glabrezu or other types of demons, which makes this a great place to get experience, as they give between 6000 exp and 24,000 exp each. (Later you fight devils, but they're not as much fun) (AR 3003) Head into the East Portal. (AR 3008) There will be various demons fighting amongst themselves here. They mention the Blood War (see: Planescape: Torment). Kill the demons here. (pretty easy to do since they're fighting each other) Have someone of a lawful good alignment click on the Pillar to get: (evil people get Horridly Wilted) Purifier +4 (Bastard Sword, Upgradeable by Cespenar) Go "east" again (x 1070 y 150). (AR 3012) Here you are confronted by a Tanar'ri. If you are evil, you can side with it. It will want you to kill its enemy Ka'rashur. If you are Good you will have no choice but to kill it. From its body, take the Scepter Gem. Note: When you return with the Heart of Ka'rashur he gives you the mighty Thieves Hood (useless until Cespenar upgrades it). This is the ONLY way to get this item, he won't have it on him if you kill him. There is a trapped alcove (x 650 y 320) with some treasure. Head on down "south" to the portal at (x 880 y 720). (AR 3004) This is a "no magic" zone. Kill off the demons in the area. Also there are traps on the ground where the 4 hallways meet the center room. You'll have to pass one to fight the monsters. Go "south" again (x 1350 y 1100). (AR 3006) Welcome to the Succubus area. Whee. They'll attempt to tempt you, but don't bother with them. Of course, if you turn them down, they attack you. Ah well, demons just can't be reasoned with, I guess. Head through the south gate. (AR 3013) Here you'll find the Baatezu (the very same ones that you were asked to kill by the Tanar'ri earlier). If you're evil you can side with them, otherwise prepare for a fight. Be sure to search the corpses for the second Scepter Gem. There is a small container (TRAPPED, x 960 y 360) above. It has some minor treasures. Again, use the lower portal. (AR 3010) There are some Glabrezu lurking around here. Also, if you go back through the portals you entered from, you'll get back to the beginning. We want to take the "western" portal, so head down and left to (x 150 y 785). (AR 3005) We experienced a "no-magic" room earlier, now we have entered a "wild-magic" room. Here, magic just doesn't work as you might expect, much like the "wild surge" effect you get if you play as a Wild Mage. There are some Tieflings in here, but they aren't important. Here's a twist, re-enter the portal you just came from (the "north" portal). (AR 3007) There's a Cambion in here, but you don't have to deal with him. If you do fight him, he'll summon several demon knights to help out. Again, like the last area, re-enter the portal you entered from (the "north" portal). (AR 3014) Right out of the portal are some really deadly traps. Try to disarm them before engaging in battle. Here you must fight a Demon Wraith and his armies of the undead. Kill him. There are lots of minor treasures in here. There is also a really good item as well: (x 340 y 640) - White Dragon Scales (Cespenar can make armor of these) Again, take the portal you came out of (the "north" portal). (AR 3015, the "Exit") This is more or less where you would have been taken if you got abducted by a Succubus. Just for arriving here, you get 10,000 quest experience. When you first appear here, you'll find Aesgareth confronting you. He's not from around here. He also has the necessary Scepter Gem in order for you to move to the next level. That is not of the moment. Be civil to him, but don't reveal that you have a possible way out. He wants to play cards with you, the stakes being the Scepter (essentially). Agree to it. The conversation ends so you can "prepare." Note: Sounds like your cue to SAVE THE GAME. If you lose the game, reload. After winning, save it again. Also... You can pick-pocket Aesgarth for the deck of many things during the "Let me think about it" time. Your pick- pocketing skill should be at least 150+ though. (Xander77) Talk to him again. The game involves attempting to survive whatever the Deck of Many Things hurls at you. The stakes are, for him the Scepter Gem, a Wish Scroll or a Spectral Brand, and you get to pick: Note: The Spectral Brand (Long Sword +4) is upgradeable by Cespenar. The Way Out (The Vigil Stone)... wager this! Experience Vitality Note: If you get the strength card and lose your Strength, use a Remove Curse spell to dispel it. (thanks to Doug Scheurich) In general, Remove Curse will dispel the negative effects, should you get one. You win by picking the "higher" card, which usually means the "worse" card! Winning a game is worth 25,000 quest experience. If you win the first two games (for the Spectral Brand and Wish scroll), talk to him again and get an instant 20,000 quest experience. Try to get the Spectral Brand if you can. Even if you lose the draw, Aesgareth will return the Vigil Stone to you (so you don't lose anything) and even give you the Scepter Gem to boot! What a nice demon. For completing this you get 25,000 quest experience. Note: The maximum experience playing the game is 95,000 quest experience. Remember quest experience is NOT divided among the party, everyone gets that exact amount. (when you kill a 1000 exp monster, on the other hand, it is divided amongst everyone in the party) Alternatively: You could be hostile and attack him. Aesgareth - 21,000 experience Deck of Many Things Scepter Gem Tiefling - 14,000 experience Tiefling (2) - 18,000 experience Tiefling - 16,000 experience Fell Cat (2) - 9,000 experience As well as many small treasures... Total experience 105,000. (divided among your party, so if you have 6 people, each person gets 17,500 exp) Also, it is possible to win the first two games, then lose the last game, and fight him then. You still get less Exp for killing him than letting him go. The Deck of Many Things (if you killed Aesgareth and got it): Card Drawn Effect Donjon Imprisoned Ruin Lose 100,000 gold Void Disintegrated Magician Transformed into a rabbit, Remove Curse to undo Skull Summons a hostile death shade, harmed by +5 or higher Key Random magic item Star If you are a warrior then +1 to strength; if you are a Priest, +1 to wisdom; if you are a wizard, +1 to intelligence, if you are a rogue, +1 to dexterity Throne Party gets 1,000,000 experience Moon Character gets +10 to max hit points Euryale Character loses 1 to all saving throws Flames Summons a hostile Baalor and some fire elementals Knight Summons in four demon knights Rogue Charms the character (they become Red and hostile) Talons Blinds character. Remove curse to undo Fool Lowers Wisdom to 3 and Confuses; remove curse spell Comet Character gets +5 fire resistance The fates Temporarily boosts +1 to all stats, lasts one day Gem Get a rogue stone, king's tear, sapphire, diamond, ruby, and emerald Vizier Mantle spell for one day Jester Character gains 50,000 experience Sun Entire party gains 300,000 experience Balance Deck vanishes Time to get out of this maze. Before leaving this level, prepare for a battle with Mind Flayers. Cast some protective magics on sensitive players, Haste, etc. Enter the right portal. - LEVEL FOUR (AR 3017) Watch as a mage (MAD mage) forces some giths and illithids to fight a battle. Then you get to talk to him, but this proves to be quite unfruitful as he simply sends some goons to attack you. (In my case, it was Illithids) Note: When I encountered Carston on the fourth floor of Watcher's Keep I asked him what happened to all his apprentices. He got huffy and he me with a lightning bolt (maybe chain lightning?) and then left me alone. Not so bad when the other option is having him summon a bunch of Mind Flayers. [from Kevin Horan] Up above the machine, there are four large containers (x 3300 y 1550). Besides having the normal assortment of minor magical items, they also carry NON-magical items. You might want to take some, you're going to need them. Open the door near here (x 3600 y 1660) and enter this room. There are 2 containers upwards, both are locked, the one on the left is trapped. They have only minor treasures. There's another locked chest at the lower end of this room with more minor treasures. Open the next door (x 4100 y 1300) to find the Magical Golems. These guys can be hurt ONLY by non-magical weaponry (hence the shelf full of that stuff), so be sure that everyone is equipped with something mundane. However, once you have normal weapons equipped, these golems are pushovers. Enter their room, and search the giant Pool to get some Blue Oil. The three containers (the middle one is trapped) at the top of this room have more minor treasures. Back to Carston's Room. This time, take the door to the south (x 2600 y 2300) The container just to your south (x 2850 y 2600) has a large variety of healing potions. The treasure chests at the top of the room are not treasure chests at all, but Killer Mimics that attack you. Once the mimics are dead, you can search the containers for more minor treasures. The final door (x 2130 y 2670) leads to several torches, which you can't light just yet. Back to Carston's room. Head up to the top stairs (x 2400 y 1500). You'll be fighting more Mind Flayers, so be ready. Go down. (AR 3021) Once here, I summoned a Mordenkainen's Sword, and sent it down. The enemies all attacked that (quite uselessly) allowing me to swoop in behind them and slaughter them. Open the door to the left, and go down the passage to a small circular room. There were some Umber Hulks here that wanted to be killed. Once they're dead, search the circular thing in the center for: Illithid Rod Wand of Cursing other treasures... Go back, then open the lower door and enter that room. There are more Hulks and Illithids in here to be killed. Search the table at (x 1600 y 915) for: 5 Potions of Extra Healing Handwritten Note other treasures... Open the cell door, and search the table in there for more small treasures. Also the table to the right has more treasures, healing potions, etc. Enter the right cell and talk to the dying Apprentice. Ask him about Carston and the exit to the next level. The key is the Machine, of course. He dies, and you can then search the table behind him for more small treasures. For helping him die (I guess) you get 1000 quest experience. Open the southern door, and go down the passage to another circular room. There are 3 illithids in here and some Umber Hulks. Kill them. One of the illithids has the second part of the Illithid Rod key, once you get it you get 4000 experience and the completed key. The container in the center of the room here is TRAPPED and has minor treasures. Go back up to the cell room, then left (x 1200 y 1000). This is the Red Oil Room. When you take the red oil from the vat you will be attacked by a couple of Vampiric Illithids (the best of BOTH worlds there). They're each worth 14,000 experience. Head back up to Carston's level. (AR 3017) Drop down to the lower stairway (x 4000 y 2600) and go down. (AR 3022) If you thought that the Gith might be more reasonable than the Illithid were, well you're wrong. They're not. Note: Some of these Gith are considered to be Anti-Paladins. Don't you wish that you could be an Anti-Paladin? There are 3 chests in this first room, and the "middle" one is trapped. They mostly have minor treasures with one exception... Be sure to get the Flint and Tinder from the lower chest (x 880 y 550). The door to the right has more Giths and some minor treasures. Open the lower-left door and go through (x 900 y 800). Fight off the Giths in this room, then search it for treasure. There is another Handwritten Note here at (x 400 y 950). Open the door in the lower right (x 900 y 1200) to go to the next room. You'll have to fight through a wave of Gith, but if you can take on the Illithids, the Gith should present no problems at all. When they're dispatched, go further to the right to find the captain. You can't talk him out of a fight, so don't bother trying. Captain - 7500 experience Diary of Carston's Apprentice (a Clue!) Angurvadal (Long Sword +4, upgradeable by Cespenar) Search the "teeth" of their ship (x 1350 y 1550) to find: Montolio's Clasp (part of Montolio's Cloak, upgradeable by Cespenar) other treasures... Search the purple pool (x 1550 y 1700) to get: Purple Oil Open the door in the bottom right corner here (x 1830 y 1960) and descend. (AR 3018) Follow this down to find a great red Dragon, Saladrex. In case you're planning on attacking him (don't yet), here are his general stats: 244 HP -12 AC -6 THAC0 3 Attacks 30% all weapon res. 64,000 exp Staff of the Ram +4 (Upgradeable by Cespenar) Rogue Stone 1500 gold other treasures... Anyway, let's just have a pleasant chat with him for a bit. You can attack later if you want. Try to use the "flattering" answers whenever possible ("oh mighty Saladrex") as he is a very vain dragon. Ask him what he's doing here, and he'll tell you that he was summoned by the Mad Mage Carston like everyone else, but he found that he liked it here. Depending on how flattering you were, you'll be able to ask him some questions. Ask him everything that you want... Then, if you so desire, you can attack. Most of the "trick" strategies for killing dragons that worked in BG2, no longer work (Fake Talk, tossing out Cloudkills, etc.), so you might actually have to prepare for a real fight. I'd make sure to cast Resist Fear on everyone, as Dragons tend to be frightening. Tips: Killed the dragon by using one of the many spell striking wands to lower its resistance (cast about 3 times), then used wand of lightning a bunch of times. Used cleric to heal/cast resist fire/resurrect. Important to note that the dragon in watcher's keep cannot fit through its big doorway, allowing you to stay out of range of all but it's fire breath. Fun stuff. If you're really crafty, you can grab some additional fire protections, and nix the cleric. This method is mainly for those who go straight from Irenicus' Dungeon to Watcher's Keep. [from Braden] Once you're done here, go back up. (AR 3022) Want to fight a Demi-Lich? Whenever you've prepared, head over to the left, open the door (x 750 y 1850) and descend. (AR 3027) Nothing here, but a Demi-Lich! I'd send in only one character and attempt to draw him out of his little hidey-hole. I'd keep your mages WELL away from this battle so they can cast Freedom on anyone who happens to get imprisoned by him. So, what I did was cast Simulacrum, and had that stay in the battle with me, and had my real mage go hide somewhere. I'd also send your main character away as well, this prevents him/her from getting imprisoned and ending your game. Of course, if you have a Berserker in your party, just Berserk and hit him hard and fast. Berserking makes you immune to imprison. Note: There are all kinds of ways to kill a Demi-Lich, and the monster strategies section above on Undead has them all. Demi-Lich - 55,000 experience Star Dagger +4 (upgradeable by Cespenar) 20,000 gold other treasures... Be sure to check his coffin for more treasures. Go back to the Gith level, and from there back to the main Mad Mage level. (AR 3017) Head left to the torches (x 1680 y 2860). There are 6 torches, 3 on the left and 3 on the right. Here's the color coding... Red Blue Red Purple Purple Red Click on each torch and light them according to the pattern. (You get the pattern from the tiles in the two side rooms, if you're curious... it's easier to see if you look at the mini-map) When all the torches light, the door opens and everyone gets 10,000 quest experience points. Enter the last room. Here you must fight two Minotaurs, Rock and Garock. Somehow they also summon other monsters to help them. But after clearing out a dragon and demi-lich, what are 2 minotaurs? Rock - 15,000 experience Axe of the Unyielding +3 (Upgradeable by Cespenar) 2 Potions of Superior Healing Battle Axe +3 Garock - 10,000 experience 2 Potions of Superior Healing Battle Axe +3 Time to search the Vaults. The left one is trapped, the right one is locked. Get the Crystal Mallet from the left vault. Be sure to get the Clay Golem page from the right vault. The other treasure is decidedly minor. Head back to the great machine, and click on it. You need to hit the thing SIX times in order to get Carsten out of it. Once he is removed from his cocoon, he isn't quite as arrogant. Let him live and he'll give you his journal. You get 10,000 experience for letting him live. (He's worth only 6000 to kill) Read his journal to learn how to activate the portal to the next level. However, we have a machine to play with first... Save it first, then use the machine. All the handwritten notes you have been gathering are the formulas for what you can do with it. Each valid combination requires 3 switches/buttons/whatever to be pressed. They can be done in any order. The bonuses work on whoever used the machine, not just the main character. So, if you need your priest to gain some wisdom... Here is a complete list of the valid combinations: Triangle Green Medium > Storm Star +3 (Cespenar can upgrade) Blue Green Long > Gain Magic Res. Circle Blue Long > +1 INT Square Blue Short > +1 DEX Red Green Short > +1 CHA Circle Square Triangle > +1 WIS Circle Red Long > +1 CON Square Short Medium > +1 STR Triangle Red Medium > Exit to next level Note: You can only do the Stat bonuses ONCE. If you enter in an INVALID combination, you get some really bad random effects (well, mostly bad): 10% chance to gain a Potion of Superior Healing. 10% chance to get 100,000 experience (only for whoever used it) 10% chance to become Imprisoned (bad if it's your main character) 10% chance for 50 fire damage 10% chance turned to stone (bad if it's your main character) 10% chance to lose 1 INT 10% chance for 75 lightning damage 10% chance to be poisoned 10% chance to lose 15 levels 10% chance to lose 1 DEX Anyway, use the machine's Triangle, Red, Medium combination to open up the portal to the next level. This is worth 25,000 quest experience. The portal you want to enter is the Right Portal (x 2800 y 1400). - LEVEL FIVE (AR 3019) Well here we are on the final level. In fact, you can see the Final Seal just ahead. All you have to do is figure a way to open it. The other portal here takes you out of the dungeon. There are 3 doors around this area, one below, one to the left and one to the right. Open the lower door (x 2460 y 2460) and talk to the Helmite Ghost. Be confident and tell him that you are ready for anything that might be ahead. Tell him that you are ready for the challenge and he tells you to enter the 3 doors behind him. Enter the left door first (x 2300 y 2950). (AR 3025) You will be fighting orcs in here. Lots and lots of orcs. This area is on a timer. As long as the timer is going, there will be a constant supply of orcs for you to fight. So, until the end, there will be 10 orcs in the room. After a short while, the spirit appears, congratulates you and gives you 21,000 quest experience. Search the pool for: Ixil's Nail (Cespenar can upgrade) 5 Potions of Extra Healing minor treasures... Go back up. (AR 3019) Now open the middle door (x 2640 y 3000) and go down. You will be fighting a Dragon, so be warned. (AR 3024) This challenge is much more interesting, you get to fight a Green Dragon! I found this dragon quite a bit easier than the Red one earlier. Anyway I simply summoned up some Mordenkainen's Swords (2), a Fire Elemental. Then I cast a few protection spells and hacked at the dragon till he died. Dragon - 62,000 experience Warrior's Skull Hindo's Doom +3 (upgradeable by Cespenar) 1500 gold other treasures... With the dragon dead, you get congratulated by the ghost and another 21,000 quest experience. Exit. (AR 3019) Time for the last door (x 2900 y 2900). (AR 3026) Here you meet up with a gaming imp. No way out, you'll just have to answer her questions. Oh, and if you fail, she Imprisons your entire party. First, here is her riddle: "I have as many brothers as sisters, but my brothers have twice the number of sisters as brothers. How many children do my parents have?" Answer: Seven This is worth 10,000 quest experience. Next you play the Game of Coins. Here is the way to win at this: You take: 2 coins (he'll take 1 coin) 3 coins (he takes 3 coins) 1 coin (leaving him the last coin, so he loses!) Beating the Imp again is worth another 10,000 experience. The Spirit appears again, congratulates you and gives you another 21,000 quest experience. There are 3 containers in here with various minor treasures. Also, the chest against the wall is TRAPPED. When you're done looting, exit. (AR 3019) When you appear, the Spirit talks to you, and gives you the Heart Key. (actually, for me, he gave it to Jaheira) 1 key down, 2 to go. Go up and to the left, and open that door (x 1240 y 1580). Kill off any monsters in here. This is the Orb Room, where colored balls shoot out of a machine to be deposited in large pillars. Why, you ask? For a key. Go up and examine the machine. You'll have to go through the Notes before it actually lets you play with the machine. You're going to have to press each of the 4 buttons 4 times. Each time you press a button you get a new Orb of the same color as the button. After you get an orb, place it into the same colored Pillar. There are some side effects to be aware of: Note: Despite what the machine says, you only have to put ANY ONE of the colored globes into their proper Pillar. That means you can get away with pushing only 4 buttons total, rather than 16. Red 1: Summons Hobgoblins Red 2: Summons Kuo-Toas Red 3: Summons Trolls Red 4: Summons Greater Wolfweres Blue 1: Summons a Mage (11,000 exp) Blue 2: Summons a Mage (14,000 exp) Blue 3: Summons a Mage (20,000 exp) Blue 4: Summons a Mage (6000 exp) Purple 1: Summons Skeletal Warriors Purple 2: Summons Shadows Purple 3: Summons Vampires Purple 4: Summons Liches Green 1: Summons Mutated Spiders Green 2: Summons Umber Hulks Green 3: Summons Earth Elementals Green 4: Summons Beholders Note: Each button pressed gives you 1000 quest experience for a total of 16,000 quest experience. Tip: With the "purple" undead monsters, I turned the script off of my Cleric, and had her stand near where the monsters appear. Then, because of being at a high level, every undead was blown to bits. Here's a list of what the first 3 orbs do for each color: (Dave Loveland) Green - Summon Shambling Mound Green - Melf's Acid Arrow Green - Temporary +5% magic resistance (on caster) Blue - Cone of Cold Blue - Greater Restoration Blue - Protection from Normal Missiles Purple - Invisibility Purple - Mass Cure Purple - Cloud Giant Strength (on caster) Red - Fireball Red - Good Luck (temporary +1 to saves for each member of your party) Red - Heals 64 hit points When you're done, you get the Mind Key, which is worth 10,000 quest experience. 2 down, 1 to go. Go over to the right door (x 2900 y 1300) and go in. You'll have to fight through some enemies, but nothing you can't handle. Go up to the pedestal and click it to place the Skull you got from the dragon on it. This teleports you to a hidden realm ... (AR 3023) You cannot move. In fact, all you can do is control the Spirit Warrior and tell him where to go. This dungeon has been reduced to almost a Text Adventure level. Your Spirit Warrior has 50 HP, 7 AC, 10 THAC0. Map: (start in Room 1) Room 12 -- Room 11 -- Room 10 Mummy Chest > Heal Gibberling (use scroll) (Req. Key) | | | Room 7 -- Room 8 -- Room 9 Ghost | Desk (Bracers +1 THAC0) Chest (Helm) | chance to be poisoned when opened | | | | Room 4 -- Room 5 -- Room 6 Poison Scroll War Dog Fountain Search for Potion (Heal) & Key | | | | Room 1 -- Room 2 -- Room 3 Goblin Treasure Chest (Wand) Skeleton attacks when opened Wand Note: If you don't use your wand beforehand, it will be more powerful when you fight the Mummy later. Fleeing Note: If you flee the goblin you take 2 damage. If you flee the skeleton or War Dog you take 5 damage. If you flee the ghost you take 7 damage. Experiences: You get 4000 quest experience for getting the Helm. 4000 QExp for getting the Potion & Key. 4000 QExp for getting the Scroll 4000 QExp for getting the Bracers 3000 QExp for using the Scroll on the Gibberling 4000 QExp for using the key and opening the chest As you can see from the map, there are many ways to do this one. The route I favor is this: Room 1: Go North to 4. Room 4: Go North to 7. Room 7: Kill ghost, open chest to get the +1 AC Helm. Go south. Room 4: Go south to 1. Room 1: Go east to 2. Room 2: Fight goblin. East to 3. Room 3: Open chest, fight skeleton, get Wand. Go up to 6. Room 6: Fight War Dog, search for Potion (Heal) & Key. West to 5. Room 5: Search for Scroll. Up to 8. Room 8: East to 9. Room 9: There is a 33% chance to get poisoned if you open the desk. The Bracers +1 THAC0 are nice, however. North to 10. Room 10: Use Scroll to kill Gibberling. West to 11. Room 11: Open Chest (needs the Key from room 6) to get healed. Go through the Arch to 12. Room 12: Fight the mummy. Use the Wand first, then attack. If you don't want any of the items, the non-violent (at least until you get to the Mummy) route is: Room 1: Go north to 4. Room 4: Go east to 5. Room 5: Search for scroll. North to 8. Room 8: East to 9. Room 9: North to 10. Room 10: Use Scroll to kill Gibberling. West to 11. Room 11: Go through Archway to 12. Room 12: Fight Mummy. I believe the mummy is stronger if you don't have the Helm and Bracers. Thus you are released from the Spirit Warrior, having succeeded in getting the final key. For this you get 21,000 quest experience. (AR 3019) Go over to the great Seal on the floor. There are 3 pedestals around it, click on each of these. Each key used gets you 20,000 quest experience (for 60,000 total). Now that we've stuck the keys in, we still have to turn them. And when you turn the keys, monsters appear. As soon as you turn the key, I'd pause it and survey your enemies. If you have any mages, take them out quickly to avoid getting Time Stopped. Upper Right - Spirits of Priests (and one mage) Items: Club of Detonation +3 Lower - Lich (25,000 experience), Flaming Skulls Items: Erinne Sling +4 (upgradeable by Cespenar) Serpent Shaft (upgradeable by Cespenar) Upper Left - Final Guardians The Final Guardians are meant to be very tough, and so they are. They consist of: Nalmissra - Tanar'ri 25,000 experience Scroll: Wish The Huntress - Demonic 20,000 experience Taralash Bow +4 (increases movement rate, Upgradeable) Y'tossi - Demonic 23,000 experience Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization (+1 THAC0, +2 dmg + 1/2 attack per round) Amerilis Zauviir - Cleric 20,000 experience Hive Mother - Beholder 50,000 experience Xei Win Toh - Fighter 28,000 experience There are also lots of minor treasures too. To prepare for the final battle, I summoned up some Mordenkainen's Swords and placed them around the portal. I then moved my party well over to the left, cast protective magics on them (and a Simulacrum as well). If you have the Cloak of Reflection or the Shield of Balduran, be sure to have those equipped on someone, and have them rush the Beholder. I had the Swords attack Y'tossi as she is very tough and requires high enchantments (the Swords are +5) to even hit. I then hit Nalmissra (after doing a Remove Magic on her) since she was close before concentrating more fully on the Beholder. Once those monsters are gone it's practically smooth sailing. Note: Getting killed by Instant-Death attacks? Try using the Death Ward (cleric) before hand. Saving after the battle is a GOOD idea. Alan Cherry has a good idea: Keep everyone near the exit portal. Take out one or two of the opponents, then use the portal and leave as soon as someone's hurt bad. Heal up and recharge spells, and come back in. As long as nobody's too far from the portal, you can exit anytime. Cast Resist Fear before entering, since you can't control a character who panics. Konstantin has a more magical strategy: All it requires is a Mage or a Sorcerer and the skull trap spell. I call this the chain reaction. Anyway, the best kind of fight is when you get the XP for free. So I had my thief set snares around the room and then using project image I had my Sorcerer pump the room full of skull traps about 12 in each of the places where the monsters would appear. This of course took a few minutes. Then I took a rest and cast all of my protective spells, and got ready for a fight. I carefully came up to the key thing (whatever it is) and turned the key. There was a laugh, then my screen froze for a few seconds as the skull traps were going off, when everything was finished all the guardians were dead. They did not touch me once. Xander77 offers the following strategies: To begin with. it may be a good idea to kill all the monsters at the monster machine except for the purple (undead) ones. Then start turning undead with a sanctuaried cleric and recruit a bunch of Vampires, Skeleton Warriors and Liches to your cause before going after the guardians. Finish the other seal guardians, rest-up and buff-up (For this battle I suggest summoning 1 planetar 2-3 skeleton warriors/hashekars and 1-2 Mordenkainen's Swords. Cast a storm of venegance over the area if you feel like it. Now. arrange everyone according to the strategy of your choice and - open the last seal. Strategy 1 - General pile-up. Simple enough - send all the summoned creatures into battle. Let your characters stand back and use every area-damage spell they know (preferably summon-friendly ones). Chain-contingency + horrid wiltings might work here (it might work in any big combat). Timestop + Improved Alacricity is also nice. Strictly according to the rules. A bit-touch-and-go, but doable (especially if your level is 20+) OTOH - It does seem somewhat impersonal, doesn't it? Going on to: Strategy 2 - divide and conquer. Make sure that all your guys and summons take their assigned places (see below) except for one mage that opens the final seal. At this point we handle 3 of the guardians on a party-monster basis, while the summons distract the other 3. Simple enough. Nimarha - Send a guy with negative plain protection (IMOD for example) and charm protection against her. All her attacks are ignored, while the guy uses a ranged weapon to help his friends. If you can find a mage with the above specifications - even better. We need all the fighters we can get taking down Ytossi and the Hive mother - the mage can just stoneskin, and sit there doing his thing. Ytossi - a fighter or 2. Breach her protection from magic weapons (a mage should alternate between breaching her, breaching the hive mother and magic missiling anyone who seems to be up to something). Hive mother - one guy with Cloak of reflection. An enraged Korgan is good - maze and imprisonment won't work. Possibly another guy with high MRCloak of Balduran to help him send her on her way before she starts targeting the other party members. BTW - If your main char is a fighter, you can distract them all the 3 on the right by yourself, and let the summons help your party. Both the kensai and the archer have +1 weapons (the archer has a +2/ or maybe +3 sword, but she only uses it once she runs out of arrows) so they can't hurt you. You should carve the drow up bad enough that she won't have time to fire of a spell. Vice versa - you can handle the 3 on the right with your party (just run on in and keep hitting them. Keep a mage free to keep the 3 on the left in line) and let the summons handle the ones on the left in the meantime. In which case: Namirra - One skeleton warrior, or something else she can't charm and can stay alive after a level drain or 2. Ytossi - one mordy sword. 2 if you feel like breaching and letting them finish her. Hive mother - one skeleton warrior and one Hakeashar. Both magic resistant. Planetar - wanders around and kills anything that needs killing. Cast a death word on your weaker party members in case a spell goes after the wrong person, and finish the whole thing quickly - they start turning to opponents other then the ones they're currently facing after a while. Once they're dead and gone, time to click the Wheel above the Seal to open it. Going down... - THE IMPRISONED ONE (AR 3020) Ah, finally we meet the elusive "Imprisoned One"... He'll try to talk you out of using the Scroll you were given, at the moment we don't want to listen to that. Get out of the conversation, put the scroll in a Quick Item Slot and use it. This is worth 80,000 quest experience. Of course, the Imprisoned One was right, and you are now trapped down here. You can go up the stairs and look at the portals, but you sure can't do anything about it. Talk to the demogorgon again. Listen to its plan, it will open a small rift in the seal to let you out, you go talk to the false-Helmites and trick them into coming to check on the Imprisoned One, he kills them and everyone is happy. Sounds like fun. Agree, and he'll open the portals. Use the Right Portal to get back to the beginning. (AR 3000) You'll appear on the ground level, find the stairs up to the roof to talk to Odren. Tell him what the Imprisoned One told you to tell him, (that you killed the Imprisoned One) and they'll go rushing down to check for themselves. After that a Specter appears and talks to you. She tells you that Odren was indeed corrupt, that it was He who was supposed to do the ritual binding the Demogorgon (prince of demons) in the Keep. He wimped out and thought to sacrifice you. She says Helm has sealed his fate. She gives you three options to do: Flee in Terror Enter the Keep and Save Orden Use a New Scroll to Seal both Demogorgon and Orden inside Pick either Enter the Keep or Use the Scroll and she'll give you the scroll (just in case). This is worth 25,000 experience. Note: If you tell Odren either that you understand why he did what he did or that you cannot forgive him and that he should get out of your sight (but you don't attack him), they both bring you +1 rep, 10,000 quest exp, and you hear the seal is now in place- cutting off access to demigorgon. You can tell Orden that you want to be rewarded for 10,000 gold and 7000 quest exp. After you receive the gold you can say it wasn't enough and attack Orden or decide that it is enough and receive +1 rep. [from Nathaniel Ragatz] The easiest is to simply take the New Scroll, use it and seal both inside. This gets you 80,000 quest experience. Note: Once you seal the Demogorgon in with the Scroll, you can never again attempt to kill him. ... Except for a very small area on the door that still allows you to enter, that is. Of course, many people might think it too easy to simply use a scroll, if so the it is time to go back inside. Drop down the stairs to the ground, then over to the left and into the Demogorgon's Lair. If not, then congratulations on completing the Watcher's Keep. (AR 3020) Everyone dies really quickly around the Demogorgon, so you can't expect help from the "knights." Demogorgon also summons up a pair of Mariliths (similar to Y'tossi from earlier) making this a very tough battle indeed. Anyway, before dropping down to his level, you'll want to prepare yourself. Protection spells, summonings, anything you think might help. Make sure everyone has +4 weapons so that they can actually hit something down there (otherwise, just leave them up by the portals). If you kill one set of minions, he'll summon more. In order to hit the Demogorgon you'll need to lower his defenses. I would suggest Khelben's Warding Whip. Use all of your special abilities/items/spells that you can while in the battle. There's no better time than now to try out your Whirlwind attacks. It is not ESSENTIAL to take out his Mariliths, you could leave them be and just try to kill Demogorgon. If you do kill his Mariliths he'll summon more... again and again. Remember, you can't hurt him if he has protections on, so use Warding Whip! If you have the higher abilities, summon Planetars and other similar creatures (those can sure take a beating). You may get poisoned, so either have an antidote, or a spell handy. Set up Contingencies if you can, and Spell Triggers. Demogorgon - 290 HP -12 AC -8 THAC0 5 Attacks 36,000 experience Mariliths - 23,000 experience Balor - 26,000 experience Glabrezu - 12,000 experience Cambion - 18,000 experience Note: This is probably the most difficult battle in any of these games, so if you can't do it after several attempts, try coming back later. Also, you cannot cheat to kill the Demogorgon. It won't work. Demogorgon is not stopped by Time Stop, so unless your mage can fight him on his/her own, don't use it. Exploits work against Demogorgon quite well. Drop a "Pit Trap" in the center before he appears (Or, drop several). Or if you're into magic, use the Project Image spell exploit to summon multiple Planetars. Find Demogorgon too easy? Try David Gaider's (a senior designer at Bioware) more difficult Demogorgon: http://www.baldurdash.org/ToB/TOBtweaksandcheats.html Killing the Demogorgon is also worth 100,000 quest experience. Talk to Orden to get 20,000 quest experience. Note: If you kill Demogorgon, the game prevents you from sealing Watcher's Keep by causing the sealing scroll to disappear, but the scroll doesn't disappear until 1-2 seconds after you've left the keep. This is more than enough time if you're ready. Save the game after killing Demogorgon, but before leaving the keep. The instant you appear outside the keep, pause the game. Now trigger the scroll and seal the keep. You'll get the full experience for sealing the keep on top of what you got for killing Demogorgon! The timing isn't all that hard, but if you don't pause the game in time, reload and try again. [from zambkptkn] Either way, you are done with the Watcher's Keep! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. [GRVFTN] Grove of the Ancients (AR 4000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exposition: ----------- Any drow items that you were cheaply carrying around in the sunlight (from earlier tricks) will turn to dust. Companions: ----------- STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Sarevok 18/00 17 18 17 10 15 Human Fighter Chaotic Evil Sarevok has been killed by you (twice), but now lives again thanks to a piece of Bhaalsoul. He offers you information and help, but can you really trust your old nemesis? Yes, actually, you can. Also, although he is Chaotic Evil at the moment, depending on how you treat him, you can get him to change alignments to Chaotic Good. In order to get him to switch, don't ask for him to make the promise, then act good around him yourself, giving him second chances and whatnot. Found in: Hell Grade: A There isn't a better fighter in any of the Baldur's Gate games. Plus if you're really crazy you can dual him to a mage or thief for even more fun. The only real problem with Sarevok is his Chaotic Evil nature, which adds conflict to a good-aligned party. Walkthrough: ------------ - SACRED GROVE Time to talk to some big heads. They give you the standard cryptic prophecy routine, then set you in a different place in this area. You sense that you are about to be attacked and soon a woman named Illasera appears. She is a child of Bhaal like yourself, and very quickly she'll turn hostile on you. She appears to be a minor mageling (98 HP). Take her out: 10,000 experience Boots of Speed Dagger +2 2 Extra Healing Potions Ring of Protection +1 Sylvan Chain +2 Note: This battle, like many others, becomes more difficult based on the strength of your party. Also, don't worry about the items, they'll be teleported with you. After the battle, when you attempt to move, you will collapse and awaken in hell. - INFERNAL FORTRESS (AR 4500) You wake up and a Solar greets you. She is as cryptic as the giant heads were (there must be a rule about this, all divine beings must be unintelligible) and offers no real answers... yet. She does mention that Alaundo was her servant, and therefore might know something about his prophecy and your powers. She vanishes, and Sarevok appears. Sarevok is not quite what he used to be, in fact, he is probably only a shadow of his former self, called into being because you happened to be thinking about him at the time. In any case, he offers some sage wisdom on the nature of this place. You have managed to create a subplane within Bhaal's realm, and this subplane is currently separating you from the greater plane. Sarevok noticed this creation in progress, and came to wait for you with a deal. He wants to live again, and only you can make this happen. In exchange for this, he offers you knowledge. At this point you can try badgering him to give you the information right now, but he won't. He needs some Bhaalsoul to get him up and running again. If you have Imoen with you, you can ask her to do it instead. Either way Sarevok returns to life (and you don't feel any worse off). He has a good hearty laugh, then launches into some Vital Clues for you. He opens up a passage to a "challenge" that you must face, and tells you to not attempt it alone. He then tells you that you must eventually get to the Tethyrian city of Saradush where all things will begin. Next he wants to join with you, and even offers you an Oath of Fealty. There are several empty containers in here. Use these to store your items that you don't know what to do with (such as Component Items for upgrading your weapons... see below). Summoning Party Members: On each side of the Planar Exit are statues of people. Click on them to talk to the Spirit. Eventually it will reveal that it can summon people who are tied to you. Use this to summon any party members that you would like to join you. Note: Although Yoshimo appears on this list, he is regarded as dead and cannot be summoned. - CESPENAR, THE IMP Walk a little left and down to find Cespenar, your imp-butler blacksmith. His purpose is to upgrade your weapons and items. (like Cromwell, but better) Here is the complete list of everything he can make, along with a list of ingredients required to make them: Note: Unless I say otherwise, assume the item costs 5,000 gold to make. Also, several items (such as the String of Gond) are used in the making of several items. This means you must choose which item you want to upgrade, because once you upgrade one thing, you can't do the other. Most of these are found in the Watcher's Keep, unless otherwise noted. Case of Plenty +2 -- Case of Plenty Heartwood Ring -- Oaken Ring (Amkethran) Nymph's Tear (Forest of Mir) Thieves Hood (better)- Thieves Hood Ring of Invisibility Antidote Potion 10,000 gold Helm of the Rock -- Helm of the Rock (better) Horn (left) Horn (right) Montolio's Cloak -- Montolio's Clasp Montolio's Cloak (Amkethran) Wondrous Gloves -- Bard's Gloves Star Sapphire Diamond Emerald Rogue Stone Blessed Bracers -- Paladin's Bracers 10,000 gold Circlet of Netheril -- Bronze Ioun Stone (Vampire Nest, Saradush) Circlet of Netheril Golem Manual -- Golem Manual Clay Golem Page & 5,000 gold Stone Golem Page (Marching Mountains) & 10,000 gold Juggernaut Golem Page (Abazigal's Lair) & 15,000 gold Improved Cloak of -- Cloak of Protection +2 Protection +2 Scroll: Invisibility Scroll: Improved Haste 20,000 gold White Dragon Scale -- White Dragon Scales Blue Dragon Plate -- Blue Dragon Scales (Abazigal) Aslyerferund Elven -- Bladesinger Chain +4 (Dragon in Suldanesselar) Chain +5 Scroll: Protection from Normal Weapons 40,000 gold Bag of Plenty +2 -- Bag of Plenty (Marching Mountains) King's Tears 10,000 gold Erinne Sling +5 -- Erinne Sling +4 Fire Tooth +5 -- Fire Tooth +4 Bowstring of Gond (Sendai's Lair) Quiver of Plenty +2 -- Quiver of Plenty Rogue Stone 10,000 gold Darkfire Bow +5 -- Bowstring of Gond (Sendai's Lair) Darkfire Bow (Capt. Erelon, Amkethran) Taralash +5 -- Bowstring of Gond (Sendai's Lair) Taralash +4 Runehammer +5 -- Runehammer +4 (Siege Camp) Rune of Clangeddin (Sendai's Forest) Flail of Ages +4 -- Flail of Ages +3 Flail Head (Poison) Flail of Ages +5 -- Flail of Ages +4 Flail Head (Electric) (Abazigal) Storm Star +5 -- Storm Star +3 Starfall Ore (found in Kiser's House, Saradush) Club of Detonation +5 - Club of Detonation +3 Ring of Fire Resistance Hindo's Doom +4 -- Hindo's Doom +3 Hindo's Hand (Abazigal's Lair) Spectral Brand +5 -- Spectral Brand +4 Skull of the Lich (Sendai's Lair) Ravager +6 -- Ravager +4 (Yaga Shura's Lair) Serpent Shaft Staff of the Ram +6 -- Staff of the Ram +4 (Watcher's, Dragon) Roranach's Horn Axe of the -- Baalor's Claw (Marching Mountain) Unyielding +5 Axe of the Unyielding +3 Ixil's Spike +6 -- Ixil's Spike Ixil's Nail +4 Dagger of the -- Dagger of the Star +4 (Watcher's, Demi-Lich) Star +5 Star Sapphire (5) Carsomyr +6 -- Carsomyr +5 (Firkraag) Eye of Tyr (Sendai's Lair) Gram (improved) -- Gram the Sword of Grief +5 (Abazigal's Lair) Heart of the Damned (Sendai's Lair) Purifier +5 -- Purifier +4 Eye of Tyr (Sendai's Lair) Foebane +5 -- Foebane +3 Fflar's Scabbard (Saradush Sewer) Angurvadal +5 -- Angurvadal +4 Liquid Mercury (Sendai's Lair) 10,000 gold Sword of Mask +5 -- Short Sword of Mask +4 Heart of the Damned (Sendai's Lair) - THE CHALLENGE If you don't have a party, go summon one (the statues by the top door), then make your way up the stairs to the challenge. At the challenge you talk with a man called Gavid, a Bhaalspawn who died before learning of his heritage. Gavid "dies" and you are beset upon by monsters. They start small and work their way up in difficulty ending with Drow. After which Gavid appears and tells you there is no way out of retribution... or is there? Note: The challenge gets even more difficult if you are a higher level. Also the challenge differs depending on your alignment. If you are good you fight evil monsters, if you are evil you fight good guys (say, peasants, elves and so forth). The place where you are standing changes a bit, but you're still in Hell. Everyone gets 25,000 experience, while the main character gets 30,000 exp. The main character also gets the Pocket Plane ability, which will return you to your private dimension. Time to go... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. [SRDSHH] Saradush (AR 5000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - MELISSAN You appear in the middle of a ... disagreement. The authorities believe you to be hostile and attack on sight. Better clear them out quickly. After they're all dead, Melissan talks to you. She sums up the situation for you: the city is under siege by Yaga Shura (Bhaalspawn) preventing anyone from leaving, and the city is under control of Gromnir (Bhaalspawn) who is quite Mad and probably will get everyone killed. After that you can ask her some questions. Ask everything you can. Note: As this is a city under siege, don't stay in any place too long... fire tends to rain from the sky. There are various Minor Bhaalspawn in town. Unless I specifically mention them, they aren't important. Also, there are various random treasures to be found in the containers of the city. The Harlot in the main city has nothing at all to do with the Vampire Courtesan plot you'll find later. In fact, she simply wants to wish you well in getting to Gromnir. There are some interesting Romance notes here as well, if you do agree to go with the Harlot it ends a romance with Aerie, however, Viconia is simply amused and convinced that this will make you realize just how much better she is. After killing Gromnir, talk to the Harlot again to get everyone 1000 experience points. - THE TAVERN (AR 5003) Enter the Tavern (x 1050 y 1550). The first thing you'll notice are some soldiers pestering a waitress. Confront them about it. You can either bribe them off (500 gold) or fight them. Once they're dispatched (1400 exp, various +2,3 weapons and armors) talk to the waitress to learn that Gromnir has a secret entrance in the sewers. Naturally. Note: You'll also find Viekang in here... he's the guy who "blew up" in a tavern back in Trademeet. If you talk to him you'll learn that he simply teleports away whenever he felt threatened. He has a quest too, see below. Also you can find Volo in the back room. Talk next to Pyrgam Aleson. Ask him for a secret way into the castle, and he'll tell you... for a fee (1000 gold). Of course, if you have 14 Charisma or more you can negotiate this down to nothing. He tells you that there is a way through the old abandoned jail (which has become overrun with undead). He refers you to the Temple of Waukeen for more information. There are 3 containers in this tavern: (x 420 y 530), (x 750 y 220), (x 420 y 900) 2 Potions of Extra Healing 2 Potions of Superior Healing Oil of Speed Random Treasures... - KEYS Go over to the temple of Waukeen (x 1280 y 1900) and talk to Farielle. (she won't help you willingly if you're evil) Ask her about the key to the castle that Pygram mentioned and she'll tell you. She gives you the key to the jail, and warns you about the undead there. Everyone gets 1000 exp. The pool behind her (x 370 y 350) has a: Water Opal Also the 2 bookcases to the side have some random treasures. You may want to buy some Elven Holy Water if you don't have any... *hint* We now have the key to the Prison, let's get the key to the Sewers. Exit Waukeen's, then head left to the Barracks (x 630 y 1800). Once in there, you'll be accosted. Be as hostile as you wanna be, there is no way out of this fight. Slaughter the troops. Search the room for treasure (practically all of it is Random) and the Key to the Sewers (x 375 y 290). You now have 2 different keys, each leading to roughly the same place in the end, Gromnir. They merely differ in their methods. After finishing whichever of the Quests from below, enter either the Sewers (any of the entrances on the ground) or the Prison (x 1350 y 2250). Quests: ------- QUEST: Mateo's Imminent Execution Militia HQ - Saradush (AR 5000, x 1740 y 810) Countess's Manor - Saradush (AR 5000, x 1370 y 1370) Kiser's Home - Saradush (AR 5000, x 2080 y 1820) Errard - Saradush (AR 5000, x 2370 y 700) Enter the Militia HQ (x 1740 y 810) and watch the, um, trial take place. A man named Mateo is taken away based on, well not much evidence. Looks suspicious. Talk to the captain and get him to agree to let you talk to Mateo and investigate this further. You can also ask him more questions, but he doesn't know much. The bookcase against the wall has some: 2 Potions of Superior Healing Go up and into the prison. Get the jailer to open the door, then go up and talk to Mateo, who is in the closest cell. Ask him whether Kiser is involved and he thinks this somewhat likely. He says that if Kiser is involved then the Countess is in trouble. You'll need to talk with her next. Also, search the back wall of the other cell for: 5 Superior Healing Potions Exit the building. You'll find the Countess's building just down the large stairs, to the left (by the Harlot). Enter. Talk to the Countess and mention that you have spoken to Mateo. She quite quickly tells you that it was Kiser behind everything. Kiser, you see, has kidnapped her son and the only way to get him returned was to turn on Mateo like that. She also says that Kiser will never give up her son. She wants you to visit with Kiser to somehow get her son back. Sounds reasonable. Note: Her treasure chests raise an alarm if you touch them. Head out, and down to Kiser's place. Inside bug him about what you know. Ask him about Mateo. Now if you have a 15 CHA, or have talked to the Countess, or are evil, or are neutral with a bad reputation you can get him to divulge more information. He says that he does indeed have the Countess's son, but he won't give him up unless you kill Errard, whom he says is the real evil force here. Note: You can pickpocket Kiser for a Shakti figurine. (Ken Adams) Kiser also has quite a bit of treasure in his house, many of which is horribly trapped (and all of it Randomized too). I don't think that you can de-trap these either. EVIL Note: Following the evil path, he asks you to kill either the countess or Errard. If you do kill the countess, he gives you 10,000 gold. If you kill Errard you get 2,000 gold. Either way gets you 5000 exp for every party member. Errard: 20,000 experience Cleric's Staff +3 Robe of Good Archmagi Avoiding Errard Note: In Kiser's basement, there's three hidden switches that can be found by using 'detect traps' (two in the main room and one in the small bedroom behind a door). When you press all three, it opens the secret door that leads to Ardic, and Kiser appears and attacks you like he normally would after you talk to Errard. (Dave Loveland) Interesting. Head out. You'll find Errard at the top of the city standing on the wall. Talk to him. If we're following the Good path, tell him that Kiser sent you to kill him. He is a little shocked, so fill him in on the details. Errard will then track down the Countess's son for you, and tell you that he is within the home of Kiser himself. Return to Kiser's, and drop down to the basement. Kiser threatens to kill both you and his hostage for revealing his intentions. Bah. Kill him. Fighter (2) - 6500 experience (various magical treasures) Kiser - 6500 experience Shakti Figurine Secret Jail Key other treasures Fighter - 8000 experience Thief - 10,000 experience Mage - 10,000 experience Find and talk to Ardic for 7000 quest experience points. Besides 3 containers of potions and/or random treasures, search the cabinet at (x 650 y 350): Starfall Ore (a component of a more powerful item) King's Tears Return to the Countess for your reward: 2000 gold, 5000 exp for everyone. QUEST: Tazit's Dead Father Tazit - Saradush (AR 5000, x 2425 y 1550) Just to the right and down from where you started, a man will get whacked by some fire from the sky. Talk to his son, Tazit, who is quite distraught over this. Offer to have a cleric help (or if you are a Cleric, to do it yourself). Have your cleric talk to the boy, and offer to try the spell. When he is raised everyone gets 1000 experience and a Reputation +1. Alternatively, if you have the Rod of Resurrection you can use that. QUEST: Save the Elves Elves - Saradush (AR 5000, x 1240 y 1180) Just above the tavern, some elves are having trouble with the local authorities (seems familiar). Threaten the guard by telling him that you are a Bhaalspawn, then talk to the elves. They believe that as soon as possible, the guards will make their move again. If only someone would offer them refuge. Head down to the Temple of Waukeen and talk to Farielle. She'll help the elves out. Return to the elves and tell them the good news. You also get a reward: Reputation +1, 3000 exp for all party members. QUEST: Stop the Dwarves Dwarves - Saradush (AR 5000, x 1010 y 2180) Just below the Temple of Waukeen some dwarves are getting angry at the local authorities. Talk them out of violence for: 1000 exp each. You could side with the dwarves in a violent struggle, but you won't get much to make it worth your time. QUEST: Help Viekang Tavern - Saradush (AR 5000, x 1050 y 1550) When you first talk to Viekang, the Bhaalspawn who "exploded" back in Trademeet, you learn that when he feels fear, he is uncontrollably teleported away. So, you think he could just get out of a city under siege. Problem is that Melissan cured him of his fear. So, if you have an INT of 18 or more, talk to him again and suggest that maybe a Horror spell could make him feel fear again. He thinks it could work. Note: The main character needs the INT of 18. So, if you don't actually have the Smarts for this one, there are always potions for that. Your main character dosen't have to have 18 intelligence to make Viekang jump. Just simply have someone cast Horror on him and Viekang will jump! [from Brock Meyer] Next, have someone cast Horror on him, and he'll be cured. For this everyone gains 2000 experience points. QUEST: Lazarus's Missing Spellbook Arcana Archives - Saradush (AR 5000, x 710 y 1280) Hectan - Saradush Tavern (AR 5003, x 1070 y 530) Squip - Saradush (AR 5000, x 990 y 1140) In the Arcana Archives, you'll discover its caretaker, Lazarus has had his spellbook stolen. Therefore he can't really sell you anything. Agree to help him with his problem. He suspects that Hectan is involved, but can't prove it. Ask for any other clues to learn of a set of VERY small muddy footprints. Hectan is not a small man. You'll find Hectan in the Tavern, in the back. Talk to him and he denies any involvement. In fact, he has numerous witnesses that place him in the tavern. EVIL Note: If you have a low reputation (say, 8 or lower) just threaten him and he'll cop to the whole story. Go outside, go up and talk to Squip. Ask him about the spellbook, and he'll want 1000 gold to tell you anything. You could be nice and give that to him (heh), but he'll settle for nothing. He tells you that he did steal the book, and then immediately gave it to Hectan. Back to the tavern. This time Hectan admits to it, but says he only took it because he believes that Lazarus has a teleportation spell. He wants you to get this from Lazarus. Very well... Go to Lazarus and get the scroll. However, the scroll is useless as Yaga has powerful magics preventing anyone from teleporting out. Take the scroll to Hectan and he'll exchange that for the spellbook. Note: If you tell him to TRY using the scroll right there you lose 1 Reputation. Return with the spellbook and give it to Lazarus. This not only reopens his shop, but also gets everyone in your party 5000 exp. QUEST: Peltje's Vampires Peltje - Saradush Tavern (AR 5003, x 980 y 815) Inside the tavern you'll find a fellow named Peltje who believes that he is not insane. Seems that he believes that all the "courtesans" have become vampires and have a secret lair where they drain the blood of innocent mortals like him. At night, enter the tavern, and go to the top left corner (where the elves and dwarves sit arguing) to find the Dark Courtesans. Conveniently, there is one of each gender. Instead of doing the usual services, they take you to the vampire nest and attempt to kill you. OTHER: Kill Fire Giants [from CY Lee] During the siege of Saradush. Go to northern end of the battlement where Errard is (the mage in Mateo's quest). You will notice that the militia is shooting arrows at some unseen Fire Giant. The Fire Giant is located behind the tower and is NOT selectable as a target. However, equip your men with missile weapons and set to aggressive scripts and they will start shooting at the Fire Giant (XP : 8000, instant re-spawning) and the best part is that the Fire Giant would not attack your party members and there's no random flamingballs from the sky (probably to avoid killing Errard). Leave them there for unlimited xp. Average : 8000 xp ( per kill ) every 20 sec. i.e. ~ 1.5 million xp/hr Note: - Unlimited ammo missile weapons (eg. Firetooth, Azure Edge, Gesen Bow, Sling of Everard, etc.) would be useful. - Be sure to check on your men occasionally as they get fatigued (after a couple days of shooting at some giant) and also to level up (to avoid wasting excess xp) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. [GRMNRR] Gromnir (AR 5013) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - SEWERS I'll assume you took the track into the sewers. Wherever you entered, your goal is at the very top of the area, somewhat to the right of center. (x 2000 y 150) Of course, along the way, you have lots of monsters blocking your path. There are no major treasures (just +2,+3 stuff), and certainly no treasure chests. You'll find your way blocked by a Secret Wall (x 2140 y 550), which also needs to be lockpicked. - UPPER SEWERS (AR 5007) For getting through the sewers, everyone gets 3000 experience. There is quite a bunch of treasure in these first two rooms. Only one of it is really interesting (x 365 y 885): Fflar's Scabbard (a component for Cespenar to make a better item) The two doors to the southeast lead to the prison. There are a bunch of enemies in there (mages, thieves and fighters) that can be pretty tough if you aren't prepared for it. Also, in each of the cells are prisoners, and each time you free one you get a Reputation +1 (which could be a good or bad thing). There is a container on the wall of the lower passage: 20 Bullet +3 Also, beware of traps in this passage. In the top right cell (x 1600 y 1260) is a passage to the vampire area. You'll also meet a woman who is escaping from Gromnir. She warns you to stay away, that Gromnir is quite mad. Go to the vampire nest. - VAMPIRES (AR 5006) This is more or less where you would have appeared had you gone with the vampire Harlots. Enter the cell to the left, and search the wall for a secret passage. Open that to get to the upper hallway. There's another vampire here. Go left and up into the next hallway. There are three cells here, the first tells you that it is a grave that is missing a skull, the second has a Rusted Amulet (x 480 y 730) and the third is empty. Go up the leftmost hallway, open the door. Here you'll find the Prison Spirit, who isn't terribly happy about his lot in unlife. Anyway, about where he was standing there is some treasure: (x 1330 y 325) Skull Random Item Keep the skull for the moment. Open the secret (x 1175 y 300) on the nearby wall and enter. There are two cells to each side of you, and another hall in front of you. Ignore the cells, go forward and open the next hallway door. The table here has some interesting arrows. The first locked cell has some treasure. Back to the shallow grave (x 365 y 665). The spirit appears again, and gives you a Clue. Whatever. Place the skull and rusted amulet in the grave container. This causes the spirit to rematerialize, mention how great it would be if you had Elven Holy Water (hence why I recommended buying it), so put some of that in the grave as well. The spirit takes you to the one cell that you couldn't open, and opens it. Everyone also gets 10,000 experience. Enter the cell and get the: Bronze Ioun Stone (memorize extra 7th level spell, Cespenar also uses) Back to (x 125 y 975) and exit. - PRISON... AGAIN (AR 5007) Back to the large room, now open the upper door (x 875 y 750). Kill the monsters in here, and up to the next room. Kill the monsters here as well. There are a couple of things of treasure in here (press TAB to see them light up). Nothing major. Open the top door (x 1620 y 420), and go through. - GROMNIR'S CASTLE (AR 5001) When you get here, there will be 5 bad guys waiting for you. These guys are fairly powerful (not YOUR level, but who is?). Battle Mage - 21,500 experience 2 Soldier - 12,000 exp each Solder - 12,500 exp Soldier - 12,300 exp And many small treasures... Once you're done here, go up the stairs to the next level. Note: Be absolutely SURE to save it before going to fight Gromnir. There is a bug in the script that can make it impossible to complete the game, and if you get it you don't want to have to start over, do you? - GROMNIR (AR 5002) Watch the little cutscene as Melissan and Gromnir argue about whether you are a Bhaalspawn assassin, and so forth. You might notice something missing in Gromnir... his sanity. They take her away, and Gromnir notices you ("hah! good fun!"... in case you're wondering, one of the regulars in the Interplay Message Boards was named "Gromnir" and that was how he closed each of his messages... looks like Bioware is having a little fun with their fans). Anyway, time for battle. I'd take out his two mages first, then Gromnir, then his soldier goons that appear from out of nowhere (although the one with a Bow is a tempting target, isn't she?). Gromnir - 22,500 experience Lavendar Ioun Stone (+1 AC, +4 save vs. death) Roranch's Horn (item for Cespenar to use) Rogue Stone 5 Potions of Superior Healing Full Plate +2 Ice Star +4 (1 to 4 extra cold damage) 1200 gold Eler Had - 12,500 experience Grandmaster's Armor (studded +6, works like Boots of Speed) (everyone else has the same exp and items as the goons on the previous level) Melissan arrives after the battle, a little upset at the violence that occurred here. She wants you to help get the people out of Saradush. After all, you killed their best defender (Gromnir), it's the least you could do... well, short of doing nothing anyway. The way to win, she claims, is to defeat Yaga Shura, who is invincible. So, first you must travel to the Forest of Mir and the Marching Mountains to discover how he became so powerful in the first place. Agree to help, and she goes away. To get directly out, just use the stairs that go Up. When you're done in Saradush, use your Pocket Plane ability. Once there, all you need to do is leave, and it gives you the option to go to the Marching Mountains. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. [YGSHRA] Yaga Shura ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - NORTH FOREST (AR 6400) As you first pop in here, you get a little dialogue explaining what you are supposed to do here. There are also some soldiers who need to be dispatched. They were busy slaughtering some poor merchants. The only one you can really save is, coincidentally, the one with a name, Karthis al-Hezzar. Ask him for a reward to get 4240 gold. Also ask him about the area (there is a temple nearby) and you can also shop here. Note: This is the first opportunity in the Expansion to head over to the Watcher's Keep. Go down and use the stones to cross the river. There were some Fire Giants on this island. Continue to the right. Here there were many Yaga Shura soldiers, and one mage. Besides the mage, they're all complete wimps. Go up, fight through the Fire Giants and Officers. Once they're dead, exit this area to the east. Head over to the Forest of Mir. - FOREST OF MIR (AR 5202) We are on a road, walk up it. Gorion will appear and talk with you. He is quite disappointed in the way you turned out, it would seem. He even claims that you murdered him. With a 12 WIS you can point out that Gorion would never say such things. He then zaps you with some magic. (20 fire damage) Next he chews out your companions, Sarevok and Imoen (if they're around). Again if you have 17 WIS you'll be able to say that Gorion would not say such things. If you do have the 17 WIS option you take no damage from his next spell. He punishes you again, this time for 15 electric damage. Next he tries to pick apart your romance (if you have one anyway), and just to be cruel, he summons someone out of your loved one's past. This person then says things designed to hurt your loved one deep down to their soul. Big meanie. With a 17 WIS you can try to tell your loved one that this isn't real. Gorion punishes you yet again, by knocking everyone down (they even make the "dead" sounds, but are not dead). Finally you get to resist his efforts. You get 5000 quest experience and he summons some monsters to attack you. Master Wraith - 30,500 experience After any conversation with your romantic interest, enter the temple. Here you'll find various undead running around. They want to destroy you for some reason. Ah well. Not only do they have a Skeleton Cleric but a Skeleton Mage as well (aren't those called... Liches?). Turn Undead works well enough here. Search the tile over to the left to find some treasure. (x 750 y 1250) Go over to the right side, and search the tile that is propped up against the wall: (x 1430 y 480) Nymph's Tear (upgradeable by Cespenar) other treasures... Go up the stairs to find Nyalee. She is the one who raised Yaga Shura, and taught him how to be invulnerable. However, she feels that he has disrespected her (by literally stealing her heart) and wants your help to kill him. It just works out that you also want him dead, doesn't it? He is invulnerable because he keeps his heart outside of his body, eternally bathed in flames. She asks you to find both their hearts and bring them to her. Then she can douse the fire and make him mortal once more. Ask where the hearts are and she'll tell you that they reside in the mountains. Time to go. Leave this area and go up to the Marching Mountains. - MARCHING MOUNTAINS (AR 5200) You start in the very bottom of this area, and the entrance to the cave is in the top right. Go up along the path. You'll have to fight some giants. Go right along the lava lake. Here you'll find a party of... interesting Bhaalspawn. In short, they're all tiny. How did Bhaal mate with a rabbit anyway? Go back left, then down the path to (x 1260 y 1500). Here go up and to the right. A Fire Giant along here (whom you should kill) is carrying many non-Magical weaponry. Almost as if he's trying to tell you that you'll need these to kill Magic Golems. Spooky. Go up across the rocks to the cave (x 2150 y 300). Enter. - MARCHING MOUNTAIN INTERIOR (AR 5201) There are many Fire Giants in here, including the brand new Elite Fire Giants (who have 250 HP and are worth 26,000 experience). Also, don't walk on the lava, it hurts (a lot). Finally be sure to constantly be on the lookout for traps, this place is covered with them. The 2 side rooms aren't important just yet, so go up. As you go by you will see 2 barriers to the sides. Keep going up. In the center of the area is a great Machine (x 1930 y 1160). There are passages to the left and right, with the blocked exit being up. Go left. There will be a pool of lava here, with a container in the center (x 1200 y 700). Oh, and it is completely surrounded by traps. Search the container: (you'll take damage from the lava) Girdle of Fire Giant Strength (STR set to 22) Hammer Wardstone other treasures... When you search this, monsters are summoned to fight you, including the brand new Fire Troll, which requires Acid or Ice to kill (once you knock it down). Head over to the right passage (which I found crawling with Fire Giants) and do the same thing as in the previous passage to get: Skull Wardstone other treasures... This time Golems are summoned at you, an Adamatite, Clay and Magic Golem. Head all the way back down to the beginning, enter the 2 side rooms and click the Plate on the wall. This will open the 2 blocked passages. Each of these is worth 5000 quest experience (for 10,000 overall). Head up to the right side passage (x 1770 y 2100). There are all manner of beasties in here. Search the container here: Blood Wardstone Psion's Blade +5 (immunity to Psionic attack) other treasure... This summons more monsters to fight you, 2 Bone Fiends and a Cleric. Go across to the other passage. There are other beasties in here that are just begging to be slaughtered. Search the container for: Flame Wardstone other treasures... This summons up some fire elementals (and "Burning Men") for you to play with. We now have all the Wardstones, and can head up to the Machine in the center. Click on it to open up the northern passage. Using the machine gets you 20,000 quest experience points. Go up (x 2400 y 540) to the next level. Note: Respawning Fire Giants. In the Marching Mountains area, if you go to the left of the lava lake, there are two more Fire Giants. They each carry a Full Plate Mail, King's Tear, Emerald and two Potions of Extra Healing (if they didn't drink it themselves while you're fighting them). But it's not the treasure that makes it interesting -- the Fire Giants respawn! Kill them, move away for a bit, come back and you can fight them again for more experience and their items again (to sell). Repeat. It's not quite as easy experience as killing them in Saradush, but this way, you can earn a bit of gold from selling their items too. [from Andy Kahn] - YAGA SHURA'S BEDROOM (AR 5204) I probably don't need to keep reminding you, but keep searching for traps. There's a trap just above the stairs. There are also some Fire Giants there too. Once up the stairs, go left, when you see the lava, go up and into the main room. Search the container here (x 1000 y 1060) for some treasure. Go right and fight Berenn, a giant cleric, and his Fire Giants. Berenn - 40,500 experience Balor's Claw (Cespenar can upgrade) other treasures... Tip: The fire giants, including Berenn, cant get through the low arches near the start. Draw them there and take them apart with ranged weapons. [from Xar] Go right. The treasure (minor) at (x 1750 y 1430) is trapped. Continue right and fight the bad-guys here. Further right is another treasure (minor) (x 2500 y 1800). Go up to the Brazier at the top of this room (x 2075 y 1100). Click on it to get Yaga Shura's Heart. Getting this item gains you 20,000 quest experience points. Go over to the right, and find the door that leads up (x 2900 y 1400). In order to open this door, you must have the Strength of at least a Fire Giant (STR 22). There are Fire Giant STR potions on the ground if you need them. Open the door and enter. You'll find a slave woman in here. Free her if you like (15,000 quest experience) and ask her any questions that you have. Just to the woman's left, on the wall is a TRAPPED container (x 3050 y 840): Stone Golem Page (Upgradeable by Cespenar) 3047 Gold other treasures... Go left to find Yaga Shura's mighty bed. In the center of the bed is a TRAPPED container (x 2500 y 670): Bag of Plenty +1 (Upgradeable by Cespenar) Yaga Shura's Journal Beating Heart Yaga Shura's journal reveals one important Clue, that he is under orders from someone else. Interesting... Go left to find and fight Imix, the Fire Elemental Prince (x 1620 y 450). He's a pretty tough battle, requiring good magical weaponry to even hit. He is standing pretty much right on top of some traps, which also makes the battle more difficult. Note: The Wave Halberd kills all elementals automatically, making this section fairly trivial if you kept it. [various sources] Imix - 50,000 experience Ravager +4 (Upgradeable by Cespenar) Amulet of the Master Harper (+20% find traps, pick locks, +3 AC) Time to go. Leave the Marching Mountains and head back to the Forest of Mir. - FOREST OF MIR (AR 5202) Be ready for a fight here. Go up and talk to Nyalee, give her the two hearts that you found. This is worth 20,000 quest experience. She'll be restored, and she'll make Yaga Shura mortal again, just as she promised. However, she begins to have second thoughts, and decides to attack you anyway. She also summons a Nymph, and some Shambling Mounds to help. Nyalee - 12,000 experience minor treasures... Shambling Mound - 16,000 experience Time to find Yaga Shura himself. To the Siege Camp! - SIEGE CAMP (AR 5203) After a brief bit of text explaining the destruction of Saradush, and that you can't find Yaga Shura anywhere, you get control. Be prepared for a large battle, it's not far off. Go down and to the left, and some peasants will be fleeing some archers. As you cross the bridge, Yaga Shura and his mighty army rush towards you. Concentrate all fire on Yaga himself, as his army will keep on coming until you kill him. Yaga Shura can be found in camp at (x 1850 y 1570). Once you wound him, he flees in terror, and returns a moment later with better troops. Again concentrate on Yaga himself. Yaga Shura - 150 HP -5 AC -5 THAC0 30,000 experience Runehammer +4 (upgradeable by Cespenar) Shuruppak's Plate (AC of -2, +1 DEX, 20% fire res.) Shield of the Order +4 As soon as Yaga is dead, the Solar will summon you back to your Pocket Plane for your continuing education... (AR 4500) The Solar summons forth your mother who explains how you came to be. She gave birth to you, son/daughter of Bhaal with the intention of sacrificing you on an altar to restore Bhaal after his death. Gorion appeared and stopped this from occurring. Gorion's disruption of the ceremony had some unintended consequences... like the other Bhaalspawn getting free as well. When the Solar talks to you again, if you are Good say these lines: (Whether you say Good or Evil things affects your ending) "I feel sorry for my mother. Gorion did what he had to." & "Yes, there is a debt. I could have just as easily have had his life, and he mine." If you wish to get the Evil ending, just say any line that sounds particularly evil (as with anything, it is easier to be evil than good). For this you get 40,000 quest experience and are thrown back out to the army camp... (AR 5203) Melissan greets you when you return. She tells you that all the Bhaalspawn in the city were destroyed, and that she and a few peasants were the only ones who could escape. She has some information for you about the other Bhaalspawn who were allied with Yaga Shura: Illasera, whom you already killed, Abazigal and Sendai. She wants you to go after these guys. She also shows you a new place you can go for help, Amkethran (ruled by her ally Balthazar). Viconia Romance Note: I don't normally take asides for romances, but this one is fairly major. You can help change Viconia's Alignment here. After Melissan leaves, Viconia will comment on the carnage of the battle. If you agree with her that this is quite impressive, she becomes LESS likely to change alignment. Tell her that this is horrible. Then, to get her to switch, say one of these lines: "Power doesn't automatically equal death and destruction, Viconia. This isn't me." OR "Has killing *ever* pleased me? What are you thinking?!" OR "All this killing is wrong, Viconia. And the fact it's happening because of me is worse!" Be sure to get the treasures from Yaga Shura before continuing onward. There are 2 containers of minor treasure in this area. (x 650 y 1630) & (x 2350 y 1550) Return to the Pocket Plane. (AR 4500) Time for the second challenge. Head over to the left, to the passage that the Solar recently opened. (x 1330 y 1660) Here is where you face down what you would have been had Gorion taken Sarevok over you. And of course, this incarnation of you doesn't care much for you, and attacks. Dark Version of You - 183 HP 6 AC 1 THAC0 4 Attacks Once he and his goons are defeated, the place is altered to fit your alignment. You get 30,000 experience, everyone else gets 25,000 quest experience. Return to the real world, then leave this area and head to the Oasis. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. [MKTHRN] Amkethran ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - OASIS (AR 6300) Note: If your party is completely invisible, you can skip this fight. Hope you're ready for a battle, because you're getting one really quick. The Tethyrians here have apparently decided that you are guilty of destroying Saradush and must be killed. This army consists of many pikemen, archers, battlemages and good clerics. Search the general's body after the battle: The Answerer +4 (slow, but powerful long sword) Long Sword +3 Full Plate +2 Note from Tethyr's Monarch The other troops have various minor treasures (like a Composite Long Bow +3). There are also 3 containers here with minor treasures (and you can see the bounty notice they put out on you!). (x 1580 y 350) has the best treasure. Go across to the other side of the Oasis, and out. - AMKETHRAN (AR 5500) Walk up the path, and you will get an immediate audience with Balthazar the head of the city. He'll give you directions to several new areas (where you might find some Bhaalspawn) then leaves you alone. There is no sign of Melissan. Beyond the subquests here, nothing to see at the moment. Pick one of the 2 new areas to go to, and go there. Quests: ------- QUEST: The Mayor's Daughter Asana - Amkethran (AR 5500, x 2340 y 1256) A short time after you arrive, the Mayor's Daughter will have her life threatened by some mercenaries. The Mayor asks you to help out in this matter. Agree to help out. Talk to one of the mercenaries. You can, if you want, offer to repay what she stole, however, the merc's want far more than she actually took, 5000 gold. With a Charisma over 16 your can convince them to take 3000. Of course, you could just fight them. Once she's safe, talk to the mayor again to get your reward: Montolio's Cloak (upgradeable by Cespenar) 500 gold Reputation +1 5000 quest experience QUEST: Saemon Havarian ... again Saemon - Amkethran (AR 5500, x 2600 y 1916) The local mercenaries are quite upset at Saemon for stealing their items and selling them on the black market. When you get near, Saemon manages to get them to believe that you somehow have their items, such that they attack you. Well, at least you know Saemon hasn't changed any. Head over to the Smuggler's Cave and enter. There you will find the Monks busting up the Smuggling operation. They spot you and tell you to beat it. Time to take out the trash. Fight them. Monks - 10,000 exp each In the back of this cave are 4 chests, 2 of which are trapped. They have minor treasures. Within a day, the smugglers will be gone. Special Items from the Smugglers: [from Dave Loveland] Once the monks are dead, Carras will come up and talk to you. Select dialogue options 2,1,2 to get into the buy screen. You will be able to purchase Enkidu's Full Plate, Gargoyle Boots, and K'logarath (throwing axe). If you leave the buy screen those items will disappear, you will not be able to buy them if you talk to Carras again. Also, if you don't follow the dialogue into the buy screen when he first comes up and talks to you, those items will not be available. The smugglers will disappear if you leave the cave and come back in. This is also the best place in the game to generate gold. The first time that you go into the buy screen they will pay you much more than normal for items (4800 for a full plate mail instead of 1500, etc.). Getting Extra Equipment and Money from the Smugglers: [from Nathaniel Ragatz] When you go into the smuggler's cave tell the monks you will let them arrest the smugglers (the smugglers weren't going to be in town long, I didn't seem to get a discount when I protected them, and their leader, Carras, detects as evil anyway). Then quickly talk to the smuggler leader to make purchases before he is taken away. The smugglers will pay more for rare magical items they don't have as well as gems then they will charge you to buy them back-thus you have an unlimited money supply here. Use it to buy any good stuff the smugglers have, including the +4 K'logarath Axe, Enkidu's Full Plate +3, and the Gargoyle Boots. When you are done buying up the best of the smuggler's stock stop shopping and attack Carras. He isn't worth much exp (only 500) but drops free copies of the +4 K'logarath Axe, Enkidu's Full Plate +3, and the Gargoyle Boots when he dies. This is the only way that you can get 2 of each of these items without cheating. If you stop the monks when they want to arrest Carras and then kill him he doesn't drop these items. The other smugglers in the cave turn hostile but you don't loose any reputation for killing them, Carras, or the other smugglers around town and the monks don't stop you. The smugglers usually minor magical items like +2 leather and +1 long swords. QUEST: The Cleric of Waukeen and the Monk Cleric - Amkethran (AR 5500, x 2974 y 2417) Near the temple, a Cleric will argue with a Monk. He wants the monks to care for the town again, and the monk points out that Balthazar cares nothing for these people. A fight ensues. Kill the monk. A mage will teleport in to chide you about this, but they don't seem to care too much. The cleric thanks you. There is a standard reward here: Oaken Ring (Cespenar can upgrade) 2000 quest experience You can also donate 1000 gold to him for a slightly better reward: Oaken Ring 3000 quest experience Reputation +1 QUEST: Marlowe Tavern - Amkethran (AR 5500, x 2730 y 1380) Marlowe's Home - Amkethran (AR 5500, x 3650 y 430) Cave of the Dead - Amkethran (AR 5500, x 1800 y 700) When you enter the tavern, the man Marlowe will come up to you and ask for help. He won't talk more of it here, and tells you to meet him at his home at the cliff. To get up there, you must go through the house to the right of the tavern, up the ladder, then across the roofs. Once inside, listen to what Marlowe has to say. A powerful lich by the name of Vongoethe wanted to steal the soul of his daughter, so he had to beat a hasty retreat from whence he came. However, this didn't stop the lich who sapped her soul anyway. The lich is in this town's graveyard, which the monks sealed. He says that he'll have a guard let you in. Agree to his proposal. Head out, get back to the main level and head over to the Cave of the Dead. You can talk to the Boy here for some info on the situation. When you're ready talk to the guard and have him open up the sealed cave. Walk forward and the lich appears. Talk to him. He tells you that he and Marlowe had a deal, Marlowe would get 20 years of fortune and whatnot in exchange for his immortal soul. When the 20 years was up, he refused to give up his soul and fled. The lich eventually tracked him down and swiped his daughter's soul to get him to pay up. At this point you can either fight him, or make a deal. You go bring Marlowe here, and the lich will give up the girl's soul. Note: If you fight him before he gives you the soul, the girl WILL die. Head back to Marlowe. You may as well tell him the truth about this one, he comes quite willingly. You and Marlowe are taken back to the Lich, and Marlowe gives up the ghost. (so to speak) You are given possession of the girl's soul. Once you have her soul, you can become as hostile as you wanna-be with the lich. Vongoethe - 25,000 experience If you fought the battle, you can give Marlowe the soul for 15,000 quest experience and a Reputation +1. Or you can keep it yourself for a reputation -2 and 6000 quest experience. Note: When I tried protecting Marlowe from the Lich one of its spells killed him anyway. So I took the daughter's soulstone back to her and gave her 5000 gold to help her as she started out in life. My party received 10000 quest experience for everyone and +1 reputation for doing this. If you give her less than 5000 gold you don't get the rep +1. [from Nathaniel Ragatz] OTHER: The Complete Pantaloons Smithy - Amkethran (AR 5500, x 3070 y 860) Note: To enter the smithy, you must go through the house to the right of the tavern, up the ladder, then over. You may have noticed the various metallic pantaloons in the Baldur's Gate games, well they finally have some payoff. Take all 3 pairs (the Golden, Silver and Bronze pantaloons) over to the smithy here and talk to Kerrick. He'll use these to construct one of the most interesting Easter Eggs in the game. Here's where you get the items: Bronze Pantalettes are in Abazigal's Lair, you must send the Petrified Adventurers out to retrieve the Eyestalk. Silver Pantaloons are a reward for the Buried Alive quest back in the Graveyard (hope you got them) and the Gold Pantaloons were in the Friendly Arm Inn back in the original Baldur's Gate. (which means you would have had to import a party that carried the pantaloons) Having trouble finding the Pantaloons? Here are the three item codes for them: misc47 misc5o misccb When he's done making the item, you get: Big Metal Rod (gun) Pulse Ammunition Frag Grenade Scorcher Ammunition Big Metal Unit The BMU is usable by anyone, and gives an astonishing series of bonuses, not the least of which is the fact that you suddenly look like an Adamantite Golem. As such, there are many places that you can't walk in it because it is simply too large to fit. Note: Once Kerrick finishes this, he leaves town forever. OTHER: Archery Practice Near the lower part of the area, archers are taking some needed target practice... on monsters that are continually summoned up just to be killed. Talk to the captain and get into a fight. The only thing of importance you get out of this is the: Darkfire Bow +4 (Cespenar can upgrade) With thanks to Dave Loveland. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1 [SNDFMN] Sendai (AR 6100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - WOODSMAN Go up and talk to the "woodsman." Ask him about the Bhaalspawn named Sendai, and he'll plead ignorance. He did, however, see some "funny" looking elves in the southwest of this area and asks that you investigate. Enter the cabin. (AR 6111) Loot this place! There are no traps, although some of the 5 containers in here are locked. There are lots of minor treasures, and one more notable treasure: (x 520 y 340) Rune of Clangeddin (Upgradeable by Cespenar) Exit. (AR 6100) If you do wander over to the southwest part of this area, you will be attacked by Umber Hulks and Drow as well as a Hive Mother (Beholder). Hive Mother - 50,000 experience Drow (2) - 5000 experience Umber Hulk Elder - 18,000 experience Head up and to the right to find the Graves (x 2000 y 160). Click on these, then head back to the Woodsman. Ask him about the graves. (He'll also try to set up another ambush around the grave for you) Keep pestering him and he'll turn into a Drow and attack you (with reinforcements, of course). When these Drow are dispatched, the hidden entrance to Sendai's lair appears. This is worth 10,000 quest experience points. If you head up to the gravesite now, you will get ambushed by more Drow. Go up to Sendai's Entrance, just left of the graves (x 1500 y 100). - MONSTER PASSAGE (AR 6101) This area is mostly just a long running battle against Myconids, Spore Colonies, Spiders and Umber Hulks. Once at the platform (x 2650 y 1000) you have 3 choices on where to go next, two passages to the left and one above you. You'll need a key for the 2 left passages. Enter the upper passage first (x 2920 y 730). (AR 6109) Time for a nice battle against more Drow... and a Drow Kensai no less! Thelynn'ss - 15,000 experience Amulet of Cheetah Speed (Speed +2, Improved Haste 1/day) Drow Guard's Key Go back. (and see what Sendai is up to... which is worth 5000 quest experience) (AR 6101) We can now open both of the doors to the left. Each of the doors will lead us where we need to go. The upper left door leads you through a spider infested area, the other through a slave infested area. Since there are no treasures worth mentioning in either one, I prefer to take the lower, slave passage. (AR 6102) As you enter here, you are attacked by Derro slaves (they look like dwarves). Fight your way along the passage. As you go along, more monsters will be summoned, possibly even behind you (annoying if you have a weak archer back there). Just keep moving until you get to kill the Slavemaster. As long as the Slavemaster is alive, more monsters will continually be summoned. Go to the end of the passage, and exit to the next area (x 2500 y 1550). - INNER PASSAGE (AR 6104) Head out to the center platform. We're going to have to go left first. Fight your way through the Drow there, to get to the door beyond (x 950 y 770). Before entering, be sure you are ready for a battle with a Lich. (AR 6110) Beware of traps between you and the Lich. Yep, there's a battle with a Lich in here, all right. You can summon things without him seeing you, if you don't move. I just attacked him with a Planetar and that worked pretty well. In another game, my main character was a cleric of high enough level that her turn undead blew the lich to pieces. Odamaron - 22,000 experience Drow Wardstone Heart of the Damned (Cespenar can upgrade) Eye of Tyr (Cespenar can upgrade) There is a trapped container near the stairs (x 800 y 100): Skull of the Lich (Cespenar can upgrade) other treasures... The other 2 containers in here have minor treasures. Exit. (again you get to see what Sendai is up to. This is worth another 5000 quest exp) (AR 6104) Go back to the center, then up. (there may be some Drow on the center platform) Fight through the Umber Hulks here to get to the doorway beyond (x 2525 y 600). This door is opened by the Drow Wardstone that we got from the Lich. Whenever you're ready for a fairly large, battle, enter the door. (AR 6105) Diaytha confronts you here, and opens the door to the right. Her idea is that you go over there and get killed by the mighty Ogremoch, an Earth Elemental Prince. Concentrate your attack on Ogremoch as he is quite mighty. Nothing tricky here, just straight-out melee. Ogremoch 220 HP -7 AC 2 THAC0 3 Attacks 56,000 experience Once that is taken care of, go over to the room on the left to fight Diaytha and her goon squad (vampire, beholder, etc). I'd prioritize this one a little, take out Diaytha and the Beholder first, then the Vampire, then the rest. Diaytha - 14,000 experience Darksteel Shield +4 (10% fire, cold, acid, poison res.) When you're done, go through the main doors. (AR 6106) As you come through, Captain Egeissag wants to kill you, but is afraid that Sendai will take credit for his actions. To remedy this, he has a suggestion for you: The two of you fight alone in the pit, winner take all, loser dies. Sounds like fun. (The alternative is to simply fight everyone in here) If you have a good Fighter type of character, this will be easily winnable. If you are a mage, you may want to reconsider. The Spectator Beholder casts a Geas such that whoever loses, all his allies die as well. Captain Egeissag - 20,000 experience Bowstring of Gond (Upgradeable by Cespenar) other treasures... After the battle Spectator (the very same Spectator you met in the Sahuagin city) is very amused by how he got out of the service of the dopey drow. You could ask to fight him as well, but he'd much rather not fight you. And with that, he's gone. (a brief cutscene follows where Sendai sends out the last of her forces, the Mindflayer. This is worth 5000 quest experience) Once you're ready, on to the next room. (AR 6107) Time for some Mind Flayer madness. If you have anyone with the Psion's Blade, then you are going to have one easy time in here. Just have them rush in and slaughter everything. (Psion's Blade was in the Marching Mountain so you SHOULD have it) In fact, I gave the Psion's Blade to Sarevok and had him and him alone fight the battle. The small pool in here (x 600 y 600) has: Liquid Mercury (Upgradeable by Cespenar) other treasures... The two doors to the right have Vampiric Illithids in them (14,000 exp). Open the upper door. Go through the passage, and the next door into the next room. More Mind Flayers and an Umber Hulk. Kill them. When you feel up to taking on Sendai, go up to the last door and go through. - SENDAI (AR 6108) Although you have quite mercilessly slaughtered her army, Sendai isn't about to let that faze her. In fact, she used that time to prepare to fight you. She creates 7 statues of herself (with either 122 or 130 hit points) and vanishes. They are of diverse Classes (1 Cleric, 2 Fighter, 1 Thief, 1 Fighter/Thief, 1 Mage, 1 Mage/Cleric). The statues can be defeated only one at a time. Also, Drow will be coming in from the entrance. I'd summon up some high level monsters to guard the entrance, then use your party to slaughter the statues. Once the statues are defeated, Sendai reappears and should be killed on sight. Sendai 182 HP 8 AC 8 THAC0 1 Attack 18,000 experience Wong Fei's Ioun Stone (+1 AC, +15 HP, Regeneration) Studded Leather Armor of Thorns +6 (1d4 damage to attacker) Wand of Cursing other treasures... Sendai is a very dangerous Cleric/Mage, you will need to keep removing any protections that she puts on herself. I find Khelben's Warding Whip works well for this purpose. Once she has no protections, she is weak as a kitten. You get 40,000 quest experience for killing her. Once she's dead, you are drawn into another Solar Dream. The Solar wants you to wonder about the present, what is your role in this prophecy? She summons a clone of yourself, who is irritated to be here. (10,000 quest experience) There is only one GOOD thing to say here, the rest are evil. Good: (this has to do with Good-Evil choices only) "I would prefer to find a way to avoid my destiny, if I could." The dream-you then proceeds to explain the prophecy to you (the one that says Faerun will be ravaged by the Bhaalspawn) saying that you are the one set out to prevent the destruction, not to cause it. At this point there are 2 Good things to say (and the rest are Evil): Sorta Good: "If I exist to stop the prophecy instead of making it true, then so be it." Really Good: "That is a relief...I had no desire to cause the destruction the prophecy tells of." This part ends, and the Solar asks what you will do now. More good answers: Sorta Good: "The quicker I get this 'destiny' over with, the quicker I can start the rest of my life." Really Good: "I will prevent the destruction of the land because it is the right thing to do." You get 10,000 quest experience, and the Solar opens another path in your Pocket Plane for yet another challenge. Go to your pocket plane... - POCKET PLANE CHALLENGE NUMBER 3 (AR 4500) Once you've rested up, head down the next path (x 1700 y 2000). Here you meet with your lost innocence. He wants you to forget your recent troubles and become innocent once more. Of course, there isn't even the possibility of doing such a thing. Your innocence then becomes the Slayer and attacks you. It is worth 25,000 exp to kill, plus you get another 25,000 quest experience for completing the challenge (the main character gets 30,000 quest experience). Return to the real world, then take the portal out of Sendai's Lair. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2 [BZGLAA] Abazigal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - DRACONIS (AR 6000) Prepare for a battle. Summon anything you want, protection spells, the works. I'd also go with a True Sight spell, in case a certain enemy casts Invisibility... repeatedly. You'll be fighting a mage/dragon if that helps. You want enough Summoned creatures to overwhelm someone very quickly... (I had a Planetar, an Elemental Prince and 2 Mordenkainen Swords) Walk forward to find Draconis. He does not seem terribly happy to see you. He will taunt you for a bit, then attacks. He is a mage of fairly high level, so expect Time Stops and all manner of Protections. When he cast Protection from Magic weapons, I simply switched over to the non-Magic weapons I got for dealing with Magical Golems, and that worked just fine. When he goes invisible, hit him with a Remove Magic. Draconis 190 HP -5 AC 4 THAC0 3 Attacks When his human form is defeated, he tells you that it isn't so easy to kill him and becomes a Dragon. Dragon Draconis 190 HP -10 AC -4 THAC0 3 Attacks 61,000 experience Draconis's Head (used to open the door) Tzu Zan's Bracers (+1 AC, +15 HP) His Dragon form is quite a bit tougher. First he becomes Invisible at the drop of a hat, making it impossible to dispel his weapon's protections without first getting rid of the Invisibility (hence the True Sight earlier). He knocks your guys unconscious a LOT, which complicates matters. He'll even summon Invisible Stalkers to help out. I cast a Time Stop to get rid of his spell protections (Remove Magic, Khelben's Warding Whip, Breach, etc.), then just hit him a lot with fighters. Whenever my guys got low on HP I used Potions of Superior Healing. My summoned monsters didn't last long against the dragon, but they'd gotten rid of his human form so quickly that it helped a lot. With Draconis dead, you can now enter the Enclave. (You need his Head to enter) - ENCLAVE (AR 6001) There's a trap right near the entrance here. When you enter, Ekim Cyre yells out for help, then locks down the Enclave. He is in a bit of a panic that Draconis is dead. Then he will attack. Did I mention that he is a Werewyvern? Ekim Cyre - 15,000 experience Empty Breath Potion Flask (take it) Stone to Flesh scroll You'll notice several pools around, only two of these can be used at the moment, the other two require that you fill the Empty Breath Potion Flask. Go to the far left pool and click it twice to dive into it. (x 290 y 600) (AR 6008) This little area is crawling in Frost Salamanders. Once they're dead, go down and through the door. (AR 6012) This little library is home to a couple of Bone Fiends. They need some re-education on the true nature of bones! (ie dead and buried) There are 3 containers in here, the dresser, the table and the TRAPPED bookcase. They contain mostly minor treasures (but another Stone to Flesh scroll). Click the pool here to fill it with ... well Breath. It becomes a Breath Potion. Go back to the previous area. Note: You never need to drink this potion, merely having it is enough. (AR 6008) Click on the pool here to get back to the beginning. (AR 6001) Go over to the far right pool (x 950 y 750) and dive into it. (AR 6002) This is a prison level, of sorts, and its guards are Kuo-Toas. Kill them all. Go left, kill them there, then go up and kill them there too. To the left are some Water Elementals (and an Olhydra, which must be their leader, it's worth 27,000 experience). Go over to the right. Kill the guard, then lockpick (or bash, or Knock) the jaildoor to talk to the Monk inside. He was sent here on a secret mission for Balthazar. He is close to death, so he wants to help you with what he has: Rope (yay) Also, he tells you about a Dragon that guards Abazigal. This dragon is being compelled to serve Abazigal. Therefore you must find the Scroll that will release her from her service. He won't reveal what his secret mission was... sounds suspicious. Be sure to search him later for: Hindo's Hand (Upgradeable by Cespenar) Go left then back down. There will be a new door opened here (x 630 y 820) that takes you back to the beginning. Take it. (AR 6001) Take the top middle pool this time (x 570 y 640) (AR 6003) You're going to have to fight through a LOT of "eyes." They're fairly annoying, but not terribly deadly. Go left, then up to find Lycanth the Mad. (x 530 y 700) Ask him about the Scroll of Reversal, then explain to him what it is and what it does. He does, in fact, have such an item, but he wants you to work for it. Seems that he has taken a fancy to the eyestalk of a Gauth Beholder and wants you to go get it for him. (you could just kill the mage for the Scroll, but that's no fun) Agree to this. Tell him that this is a bit beneath you and he suggests subcontracting this out to the three petrified adventurers. Since the secret wall to his lab is barred, you'll need to find another way in. Use the nearby pool (x 460 y 800) to enter the lab. Search the Right Table for: Juggernaut Golem Page (Cespenar can upgrade) Stone to Flesh scroll Go down and open the "secret" wall. Use the Stone to Flesh scrolls (that you've been getting throughout this dungeon) to bring the "adventurers" back to life. Next you must convince them to take up the quest to get the Eyestalk. This isn't terribly difficult, just convince them that this is to Save the World and they'll even do it for free.... They'll return several days later and a very amusing cutscene unfolds. ("Bondari reloads" refers, of course, to the habit of players to try doing something stupid, then reloading and doing the smart thing... The designers seem to be having fun with the gaming public) They'll give you the Eyestalk and... Bronze Pantalettes (yay!) Go up to the Mad Mage and give him the Eyestalk to get the Scroll of Reversal. This gets you 30,000 quest experience. Note: Clicking on the Eggs releases several Eye monsters. Head down, and just below where the adventurers were, take that pool (x 670 y 1170). (AR 6004) Head over to the left to find the Dragon. It asks for you to free it with your Reversal Scroll. In exchange, it will give you the Wardstone which will allow you to pass. This gets you 10,000 quest experience. Alternatively: You could attack the Dragon. Fll'Yissetat 280 HP -8 AC -6 THAC0 5 attacks 60,000 experience Ring of Improved Invisibility Abazigal's Wardstone Or you could free it, THEN kill it. (Amusingly, one hit with the Ravager Halberd and it died to a 10% vorpal effect) When you're ready, go further left and enter Abazigal's Lair. - ABAZIGAL (AR 6005) Before moving forward, prepare for a big battle against a Dragon. Summon. Protective Magic. You know the drill. You'll have to battle your way through some Frost Salamanders before you get to the Dragon. You'll find Abazigal in the center of this area, looking a little blue around the gills. Again, like his son Draconis, when you defeat his human form, his Dragon form emerges. You MUST defeat his dragon form quickly and efficiently as he can Heal himself fully. Not sure why, but I found him easier than Draconis outside. Again I had the Planetar, 2 Mordenkain Swords and an Elemental Prince (who didn't get blown away by the Dragon wing flap). And again I used time stop to remove any protections (then I just attacked him while time was stopped... hey free damage). Abazigal 290 HP -12 AC -8 THAC0 3 Attacks Gram the Sword of Grief +5 (Upgradeable by Cespenar) Flail Head (Electric, Upgradeable by Cespenar) Blue Dragon Scales (Upgradeable by Cespenar) When he dies, he tells you that your victory will be short lived... Defeating him is worth 40,000 quest experience. When you have defeated both Sendai and Abazigal then you get to see the cutscene of Balthazar betraying Melissan and ordering her death. (this is worth 4000 quest experience) Next, it cuts away to another Solar dream. She tells you that you near the end of your journey. The following responses are GOOD: Really Good: "I only hope I will be able to hold onto what is good and righteous." Pretty Good: "Then any help you could provide would be appreciated." She then tells you that the 5 most powerful Bhaalspawn gathered together to form the Five. They plotted the Doom of their lesser siblings. She then summons forth Yaga Shura to explain this to you. He tells you that they plotted to rule the world and resurrect their father, Bhaal. Time for you to respond with what you think: Good: "It means that their plan is defeated...Bhaal will remain where he is: dead!" He tells you that you have missed the most powerful of the five: Balthazar. Good: "I'll just have to stop Balthazar and Bhaal, too, if it comes to that." Really Good: "If I can kill Balthazar before he raises Bhaal, I'd prefer not to deal with my so-called 'father' at all." When this is done you get 10,000 quest experience. Leave via the big blue portal to the left. As you reach the outside, Elminster appears. He tells you that you have grown so powerful, even he wouldn't take you on. Sweet. Anyway he also will advise you on who to go see to get into Balthazar's lair. You are to find and talk to Saemon Havarian again. (Or if you killed him, Zakfee Rafeya) Head back to your Pocket Dimension. - CHALLENGE FOUR (AR 4500) Head over to the right to take the 4th challenge (x 2700 y 1700). Here you meet up with Cyric, who teleports your party away. He asks you if you recognize who he is, and depending on your WISDOM, you will recognize him as the current God of Murder (13 WIS min). He explains the situation as it stands among the godhood, and how he is gauging your threat to his station. He finishes by deciding to test you with some goons fighting you. Each of his "Favored" is worth 25,000 experience. Once the challenge is completed, you get 30,000 quest experience while your party each gets 25,000 quest experience. Leave the Pocket dimension and go back to Amkethran. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. [BLTHZR] Balthazar ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - BACK TO AMKETHRAN (AR 5500) Any mercenaries you find here will be hostile. Head up to the Smuggler's Cave (x 2800 y 700). (AR 5504) Here you'll find Saemon Havarian yet again (unless you managed to kill him). All his smuggling buddies have been slaughtered, thus giving Saemon some better perspective on life. He has a proposal for you, one that will get you in to see Balthazar. (Or if you prefer, you can refuse and ask for the alternative route that leads through the Cave of the Dead... you'll have to get the key for this one from Faheed) Agree to go with Saemon and the dialogue ends. Talk to him again when you are ready to proceed. Talk to Saemon again and agree to his proposal... (AR 5500) Saemon gets you inside the gates, the rest is up to you. You'll have to fight through some monks immediately. Head inside (x 1450 y 400). (AR 5505) This is Balthazar's throne room, so head up to his throne. Balthazar will appear and explain a few things to you. For starters, it was Melissan herself who created the Five, the group of powerful Bhaalspawn. Despite what you saw in that cutscene, he talks about her as though she is still alive. Also, he plans on exterminating all Bhaalspawn, so you're going to have to defend yourself. Balthazar 280 HP -10 AC -5 THAC0 5 Attacks Monk 40,000 experience Although everyone says that Balthazar is the most powerful of the Five, I found this battle pretty easy... it's almost a straight out melee fight as he has no good mage with him. Note: Just like the Demogorgon, Balthazar is "immune" to Time Stop. Finding Balthazar to be too easy? Try David Gaider's (a senior designer at Bioware) more difficult version: http://www.baldurdash.org/ToB/TOBtweaksandcheats.html When he's dead you get 40,000 quest experience and another Solar Dream. The Solar tells you that you have beaten the Five (Melissan is not a child of Bhaal) but that Bhaal has not reawakened. Melissan is summoned forth and it soon becomes obvious why she has been doing what she has been doing... by destroying Bhaalspawn she can step in and fill the void of power, thus becoming a Goddess. She explains all of her recent wheelings and dealings for quite a while before you get to respond. Again there are Good things to say and Evil things to say. Good: "I'll stop you, Melissan. You won't get away with this." She says that she controls most of the Abyss, and wonders if you have the guts to face her there. Well... duh. Really Good: "I'd confront your kind of evil wherever I had to go... and I will win." Good: "I will never let you get away with this! Someone has to stop you!" When the dream ends everyone gets 10,000 quest experience. Go to your Pocket Plane. - THE FINAL CHALLENGE (AR 4500) Head up and right to the final challenge (x 2650 y 1050). Here you will meet up with the Ravager, a great big demon from the depths of your own soul. Ravager 534 HP -6 AC -6 THAC0 5 Attacks 50,000 experience The Ravager will summon several Bone Blades (like Mordenkainen's Swords) to attack you. The Ravager also has a great deal of weapon and magic resistances. 100% to fire, electricity, cold and acid 90% to magic 50% to magical cold 75% to magical fire 75% to all weapon types Immune to Time Stop (if you cast it, he won't be stopped) I used some Mordenkainen's Swords to distract the Ravager, after all, he can't hurt the sword. This allowed me to more or less get a free shot at attacking him. Problems occur when he Dominates your people, or puts them to sleep. Since he has a LOT of HP you need to hit him a LOT, so I would also suggest Improved Haste and any of your new Attack abilities. Luckily he doesn't use any protection from magical weapons spells. Once he is dead, rest up, and prepare to enter the Throne of Bhaal. You can't come back to the Pocket Plane, so make sure that everything is finished (such as all of Cespenar's items being made, proper spells memorized and whatnot). Cast any protection spells you can, then when you're ready, go on through the gates. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. [THFBHL] Throne of Bhaal (AR 6200) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough: ------------ - MELISSAN Melissan talks to you here, but nothing important is said. The result is a battle. You need to knock off about 200 HP to get her to talk to you again. She'll say that she can't waste time with you. She goes into the center to gather more Essence of Bhaal. This is your chance. Go over to the Mana Pool to the left (x 600 y 1400). Here you must defeat the guardians (Air Elementals). Once they're dead, click the Pool. This cuts Melissan from her source of Essence, causing her to attack you once more. Concentrate all attacks on Melissan and she won't last too long. When she is defeated, all her monsters go with her. She needs more essence so goes back to the center. Heal everyone, cast more summons/protections then head over to the right pool (x 2000 y 1400) to take on Cryonax the Prince of Ice Elementals. Again when her pool is cut off, she reappears and attacks you yet again. This time she summons up some Slayer Shadows, which are pretty neat. She'll even teleport away leaving you with this mess. Defeat her again and she'll do the same thing with the pools. Again, restore your party, then head up to the last pool (x 1950 y 450) to fight its guardians. This battle is the hardest in this level so far, having the awesomely powerful Fallen Solar as well as Mariliths, Succubus and Alu Fiends. Try to draw just a few of the monsters out and defeat them separately. You'll probably want to concentrate your fire on the Fallen Solar as he is the most powerful. Cut off the pool to get to the Final Battle. After the nastiness of the previous pool battle, whacking Melissan here is practically easy. When you get her down enough, the Solar reappears and tells her that it's all over. You've won... You get to make the choice of whether to become a God or whether to give up the power and become a mortal. This is where all that Good and Evil comes into play as it affects what type of ending you get. Ending 1: Become a Good god. Ending 2: Become an Evil god. Ending 3: Don't become a god at all. Sit back and enjoy the end of the Baldur's Gate Saga. =============================================================================== < < < < < [PPNDCS] APPENDICES > > > > > =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. [CMPLTK] Complete Kit Descriptions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fighter Kits: ------------- BERSERKER This is a warrior who is in tune with his animalistic side and, during combat, can achieve an ecstatic state of mind that will enable him to fight longer, harder and more savagely than any human has a right to. Berserkers tend to be barbarian-like in nature, but not always. Sometimes it is a conscious choice that a warrior in training makes. Regardless, opponents on the battlefield will be unsettled with they see the savage and inhuman elements of the berserker's personality. This class is common amongst dwarves, know to them as "battleragers." Advantages: - May use Enrage ability once per day per 4 levels. While enraged: +2 to hit, +2 damage, -2 AC. The berserker at this time is immune to charm, hold, fear, maze, imprisonment, stun and sleep. He also gains 15 hit points while enraged. These hit points are temporary, and are taken away at the end of his berserk spree, possibly killing the berserker. Disadvantages: - Becomes winded after berserking. While he's winded, he receives -2 to hit, -2 to damage and a +2 penalty to AC. - Cannot specialize in ranged weapons. WIZARDSLAYER This warrior has been specially trained by his sect to excel in hunting and attacking spellcasters of all kinds. Advantages: - For each successful hit on an opponent, 10% cumulative spell failure penalty is applied. - 4% magic resistance per level. Disadvantages: - May not use any magic items except for weapons and armor. KENSAI This class is also known as the Sword Saint, and consists of a warrior who has been specially trained to be one with his sword. They are deadly and fast and trained to fight without encumbrance. Advantages: - +1 to hit and +1 damage for every three levels. - -2 bonus to AC. - -1 bonus to speed factor for every 4 levels. - May use Kai ability one time per day for every 4 levels (starts at 1st level with one use). This ability lasts 10 seconds and makes all the attacks do maximum damage. Disadvantages: - May not use missile weapons. - May not wear armor. - May not wear gauntlets or bracers. Thief Kits: ----------- ASSASSIN This is a killer trained in discrete and efficient murder, relying on anonymity and surprise to perform his task. Assassins must be of Evil or Chaotic Neutral alignment. Advantages: - May coat his weapon in poison once per day per 4 levels. The next hit with that weapon will inject the poison into the target, dealing out 1 damage per second for 24 seconds (3 damage for the first 6 seconds). A saving throw vs. poison limits damage to 12 total. - Bonus +1 to hit and +1 damage. - Higher backstab multiplier, up to x7. Disadvantages: - Only 15 points per level to distribute on abilities. SWASHBUCKLER This rogue is part acrobat, part swordsman, and part wit: the epitome of charm and grace. Advantages: - Bonus +1 to AC. - Another +1 to AC for every 5 levels. - +1 to hit and damage every 5 levels. - May specialize in any weapon that a thief can use - May place three stars in two-weapon fighting style proficiency Disadvantages: - No backstab multiplier. BOUNTY HUNTER This is a hunter of men, skilled in tracking quarry and bringing them back alive--whether for lawful authorities or underworld masters. Bounty Hunters are specially trained at their task and make fearsome opponents. They have honed their trap-making abilities well beyond that of the average thief. Advantages: - +15% to trap setting. - He can lay special traps (other than the ones that all thieves receive). The traps are more powerful than the typical thief trap, and the effect varies according to the level. The effects are listed below: - 1st: The trap deals out damage and slows the target (if save is failed). - 11th: The trap holds the target if a save is failed. - 16th: The trap erects an Otiluke's Resilient Sphere around the target (if a save is failed). - 21st: The trap Mazes the target. Disadvantages: - Gets only 20 to distribute between thief abilities each level. Ranger Kits: ------------ ARCHER The archer is the epitome of skill with the bow. He is the ultimate marksman, able to make almost any shot, no matter how difficult. To become so skilled with the bow, the archer has had to sacrifice some of his proficiency with melee weapons and armor. Advantages: - +1 to hit and +1 to damage with any missile weapon for every 3 levels of experience. TOB: at 18th level, bonuses slow to every 5 levels. - Every 4 levels he gains the ability to make a called shot once per day. When he activates this ability, any shot made within the next 10 seconds is augmented in the following manner (according to the level of the archer): - 4th level: -1 to THACO of target - 8th level: -1 to save vs magic of target - 12th: -1 to strength of target - 16th: +2 bonus to damage Disadvantages: - An archer can only become proficient in melee weapons; he may never specialize. - An archer cannot wear any metal armor. BEASTMASTER This ranger is a wanderer, and is not comfortable in civilized lands. He maintains a natural affinity for animals; they are his friends and comrades-in-arms, and the Beast Master has a limited form of telepathic communication with them. Advantages: - +15% to stealth ability - Enhanced spell ability with regard to the following spells: - May cast the 4th level druid spell Animal Summoning I at 8th level. - May cast Animal Summoning II at 10th level. - May cast Animal Summoning III at 12th level. - May cast Find Familiar (special abilities menu) Disadvantages: - Cannot use metal weapons (such as swords, halberds, hammers or morning stars). STALKER Stalkers serve as covert intelligence gatherers, comfortable in both wilderness and urban settings. They are the spies, informants, and interrogators, and their mastery of stealth makes them deadly opponents. Advantages: - +20% to stealth ability - May backstab for a lesser amount than the thief class (level 1-8: x1, level 9-16: x2, level 17+: x3) - Has access to three mage spells at 12th level. They are Haste, Protection from Normal Missiles and Minor Spell Deflection. Disadvantages: - May not wear armor greater than studded leather. Cleric Kits: ------------ TOB: All clerics at 25th level get a special ring from their god: +1 STR +5% Magic Resistance extra 6th and 7th level spells. PRIEST OF TALOS Talos is the evil god of storms, destruction and rebellion. Clerics of the Stormlord warn that Talos must be appeased or he will rain destruction upon the land. Advantages: - May cast Lightning Bolt once per day per 5 levels of the caster (starts at 1st level with one use). - May cast Storm Shield once per day per 10 levels of the caster (starts at 1st level with one use). This spell lasts 6 seconds per level of the caster. It protects the caster from lightning, fire, cold and normal missiles. Disadvantages: - None PRIEST OF LATHANDER Lathander is the good god of renewal, creativity and youth, and is celebrated nearly everywhere. His followers are very popular throughout the Realms, and there are numerous wealthy temples devoted to him. Advantages: - May cast Hold Undead once per day for every 5 levels of the caster (starts at 1st level with one use). - May cast Boon of Lathander once per day per 10 levels of the caster (starts at 1st level with one use). This spell lasts for 6 seconds per level of the caster. It gives the caster +1 to hit, +1 to damage, +1 to all saving throws and gives the caster 1 extra attack per round. It also protects the recipient from level drain. Disadvantages: - None. PRIEST OF HELM Followers of the neutral God of Watchers and Protectors are warriors in their own right and are often seen as defenders of the innocent. Advantages: - May cast True Sight once per day per 5 levels (starts at 1st level with one use). - May cast Seeking Sword once per day per 10 levels (starts at 1st level with on use). This spell creates a sword in the player's hand (that cannot be dropped or unequipped). The sword is +4 for purposes of determining what it can hit (but this bonus does not apply to damage), and it deals out 2-8 damage to any target it hits. The weapon sets the number of attacks of the cleric to 3. It lasts for 1 round per level of the caster. When equipped, the wielder cannot cast further spells. Disadvantages: - None. Bard Kits: ---------- BLADE The blade is an expert fighter and adventurer, whose bardic acting abilities make him appear more intimidating and fearsome. His fighting style is flashy and entertaining, but is also quite deadly. Advantages: - May use Offensive Spin and Defensive Spin abilities once per day per 4 levels. Offensive Spin lasts 24 seconds, granting the blade +2 to hit, +2 to damage, and an extra attack. As well, all of his attacks do maximum damage for the duration. Defensive Spin lasts 24 seconds, roots him to the spot, but gives -1 AC per level of experience. This armor class bonus does not go over -10. - May place three slots into two-weapon fighting style. Disadvantages: - Only has one-half normal Lore value. - Only has one-half Pick Pockets percentage. - Bard Song does not become better with levels. JESTER This bard is well versed in the arts of ridicule and hilarity, and uses his abilities to distract and confuse his enemies, cavorting madly during combat. Advantages: - Jester's song does not help allies. Instead, it affects every opponent within 30 feet, and they must save vs. magic at +4 once per round or be confused. Disadvantages: - None SKALD This Nordic bard is also a warrior of great strength, skill and virtue. His songs are inspiring sagas of battle and valor, and the skald devotes his life to those pursuits. Advantages: - +1 to hit and +1 damage with all weapons. - The skald's song is different from the typical bard and varies with level: - 1st: Gives allies +2 to hit, +2 to damage and -2 to AC. - 15th: Gives allies +4 to hit, +4 to damage, -4 to AC, and immunity to fear. - 20th: Gives allies +4 to hit, +4 to damage, -4 to AC, and immunity to fear, stun and confusion. Disadvantages: - Pick Pockets ability one-quarter normal. Mage Kits: ---------- Mage specialists gain +1 spell per level, but can't cast spells in their opposition school. Races Stat Required Abjurer Human 15 Wisdom Conjurer Human, Half-Elf 15 Constitution Diviner Any 16 Wisdom Enchanter Human, Half-Elf, Elf 16 Charisma Illusionist Human, Gnome 16 Dexterity Invoker Human 16 Constitution Necromancer Human 16 Wisdom Transmuter Human, Half-Elf 15 Dexterity Specialist School Opposition School(s) Abjurer Abjuration Alteration Conjurer Conjuration/Summoning Divination Diviner Divination Conjuration/Summoning Enchanter Enchantment/Charm Evocation Illusionist Illusion Necromancy Invoker Invocation/Evocation Enchantment/Charm, Conjuration Necromancer Necromancy Illusion Transmuter Alteration Abjuration, Necromancy Wild Mage (TOB), no prohibited school, but chance of a Wild Surge. Paladin Kits: ------------- CAVALIER This class represents the most common picture of the knight: the gentleman warrior who epitomizes honor, courage, and loyalty. He is specialized in battling 'classical' evil monsters such as demons and dragons. Advantages: - Bonus +3 to hit and +3 damage against all demonic and draconic creatures. - May cast Remove Fear 1 time per day per level. - Immune to fear and morale failure. - Immune to poison. - 20% resistance to fire. - 20% resistance to acid. Disadvantages: - May not use missile weapons. (they CAN use throwing Axes, however) INQUISITOR The inquisitor has dedicated his life to finding and eliminating practitioners of evil magic and defeating the forces of darkness, and his god has provided him with special abilities towards that end. Advantages: - May use Dispel Magic ability once per day per 4 levels (starts at 1st level with one use). The ability is used at a speed factor of 1 and acts at twice his actual level. - May cast True Sight once per day per 4 levels (starts at 1st level with one use). - Immune to Hold and Charm spells. Disadvantages: - May not use Lay on Hands ability. - May not cast priest spells. - May not turn undead. - May not use Cure Disease ability. UNDEAD SLAYER This holy avenger has honed his abilities towards the destruction of the undead and other unnatural creatures, and is immune to many of their more devastating abilities. Advantages: - +3 to hit and +3 damage vs. undead. - Immune to hold. - Immune to level drain. Disadvantages: - May not use Lay on Hands ability. Druid Kits: ----------- TOB: All Druids at 15th level are immune to poison. At 18th and 24th levels, Druids gain 10% resistance to elements. SHAPESHIFTER This druid is not called shapeshifter because he has access to a great variety of forms, rather because of his complete dedication to a single alternate form. This druid has willingly allowed himself to become infected with lycanthropy, but due to intense study and training he has the ability to control his affliction. The creature he becomes is that of the werewolf, the most famous of the lycanthrope shape changers. Advantages: - May shapeshift into the form of a werewolf once per day for every 2 levels (starts at 1st level with one use). - At 13th level, gains the ability to change into a greater werewolf once per day. Disadvantages: - No other shapeshifting abilities due to the effort required maintaining balance in his primary forms. - Cannot wear any armor. TOTEMIC DRUID This druid closely identifies with a particular animal, an animal that he feels represents his spirit. This grants him a special connection to the animal kingdom, and he is able to call upon their spirits to aid him. Advantages: - May summon a special 'spirit' animal once per day per 5 levels of experience. Spirit animal is randomly selected from 'Spirit Bear', 'Spirit Wolf', 'Spirit Lion' and 'Spirit Snake'. Disadvantages: - Cannot shapeshift. AVENGER A member of a special sect within the Druidic order, a druid of this type is dedicated to fighting those who would defile nature. Avengers have powers the average druid does not; additional abilities that have been earned through extensive rituals, a process that is very physically draining. Advantages: - May shapechange into normal forms, as well as those of sword spider, baby wyvern and fire salamander. - 6 mage spells are added to his repertoire, all the way up to 6th level. These are listed below: - 1st: Chromatic Orb - 2nd: Web - 3rd: Lightning Bolt - 4th: Improved Invisibility - 5th: Chaos - 6th: Chain Lightning Disadvantages: - May not wear better than leather armor. - On character creation, he receives a -2 to strength and constitution. Monk: ----- Monks are warriors who pursue perfection through contemplation as well as action. They are versatile fighters, especially skilled in combat without weapons or armor. Though monks cannot cast spells, they have a unique magic of their own. They channel a subtle energy, called ki, which allows them to perform amazing feats. The monk's best known feat is their ability to stun an opponent with an unarmed blow. Advantages: - The monk can make one unarmed attack per round; he gains one-half additional attack every 3 levels. - As the monk increases in levels, the damage his fists inflict does as well: - Level 1-2: 1-6 - Level 3-5: 1-8 - Level 6-8: 1-10 - Level 9-14: 1-12 - Level 15+: 1-20 - A monk's natural armor class gets better as he goes up in levels. His armor class starts off at 9, and then decreases by 1 for every 2 levels. - Stunning blow, once per day for every 4 levels. All attacks in the next 6 seconds force the victim to save or be stunned. Note: This special ability automatically modifies a monk's normal attack, no targeting needs to be done. - Monks have the Deflect Missiles ability. This gives them a -1 to their AC vs missiles for every 3 levels. - The monk gains a +2 to save vs. spells. - A monk starts off moving at +2 move, then +1 move every 5 levels. - 5th level: Immunity to all diseases, and cannot be Slowed or Hasted. - 7th level: Lay on Hands to heal 2 hit points per level. - 8th level: -1 to speed factor. - 9th level: +1 to all saves. Immune to charm. The monk's fist is considered a +1 weapon (+2 at 12th, +3 at 15th). - 11th level: Immune to poison. - 12th level: Another -1 to speed factor. - 13th level: Quivering Palm spell once per day. This spell gives them one hand attack. If they hit an opponent, the opponent must save or die. - 14th level: The monk gains 3% magic resistance per level (ie. 42% at 14th level, caps out at 78%). - 20th level: Immune to non-magical weapons. - TOB: 21st level: AC bonuses slow to every 3 levels - TOB: 25th level: Fists become +4 weapons - TOB: 30th level: AC bonuses slow to every 5 levels Disadvantages: - The monk cannot wear armor. - A monk can only uses weapons available to the thief class (except 2 handed). Sorcerer: --------- Sorcerers are practitioners of magic who were born with the innate ability to cast spells. It is thought that the blood of some powerful creature flows through their veins; perhaps they are the spawn of the gods themselves, or even dragons walking in humanoid form. Regardless, the sorcerer's magic is intuitive rather than logical. They know fewer spells than wizards, and acquire spells more slowly, by they can cast spells more often and have no need to select and prepare spells ahead of time. Sorcerers cannot specialize in magic the way wizards to. other than these differences, a sorcerer is very similar to the wizard. Note: A sorcerer does not learn spells from scrolls. He chooses new spells with each level. A sorcerer's prime requisite is intelligence and they use the mage avatar. Barbarian: ---------- A barbarian can be an excellent warrior. While not as disciplined or as skilled as a normal fighter, the barbarian can willingly throw himself into a berserker rage, becoming a tougher and stronger opponent. The barbarian uses the fighter avatar. Advantages: - They move at 2 points faster than the usual character. - Barbarians are immune to backstab. - Can Rage once per day for every 4 levels (starts at 1st level with one use). Rage gives them +4 to constitution and strength for 5 rounds. Gives a -2 armor class penalty and +2 to saves vs. magic (for 5 rounds). Rage also gives immunity to all charm, hold, fear, maze, confusion and level-drain spells. - At 11th level, the barbarian gains 10% resistance to slashing, piercing, crushing and missile damage. He gains +5% to this every 4 levels thereafter. - The barbarian rolls d12 for hit points instead of a fighter's d10. Disadvantages: - A barbarian cannot wear full plate or plate mail. - A barbarian cannot specialize past normal specialization. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. [CHRTSA] Charts & Analysis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > [THVNGM] Thieving Money Charts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some extended Thieves Guild money charts, for use with the Thief Stronghold. It works by probabilities. Since at "Low" risk you have a 10% chance of your thief getting caught, I simply show that 9 times you gain the money and the 10th you must pay to get that thief out of jail. Then I add that up and divide by 10 to get the average. Hanz Money Chart Risk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Totals / Avg. --------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- Low 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 -100 = 1700 or 170 avg. Med. 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 -100 -100 = 3000 or 300 avg. High 600 600 600 600 600 600 250 -100 -100 -100 = 3550 or 355 avg. V. High 900 900 900 900 900 -100 -100 -100 -100 -100 = 4000 or 400 avg. Goshan Money Chart Risk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Totals / Avg. --------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- Low 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 -200 = 1600 or 160 avg. Med. 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 -200 -200 = 2000 or 200 avg. High 500 500 500 500 500 500 150 -200 -200 -200 = 2550 or 255 avg. V. High 750 750 750 750 750 -200 -200 -200 -200 -200 = 2750 or 275 avg. Kretor Money Chart Risk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Totals / Avg. --------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- Low 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 -50 = 2200 or 220 avg. Med. 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 -50 -50 = 3900 or 390 avg. High 750 750 750 750 750 750 350 -50 -50 -50 = 4700 or 470 avg. V. High 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 -50 -50 -50 -50 -50 = 4750 or 475 avg. Morsa Money Chart Risk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Totals / Avg. --------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- Low 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 -250 = 650 or 65 avg. Med. 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 -250 -250 = 1500 or 150 avg. High 500 500 500 500 500 500 125 -250 -250 -250 = 2375 or 237.5 a. V. High 750 750 750 750 750 -250 -250 -250 -250 -250 = 2500 or 250 avg. Varia Money Chart Risk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Totals / Avg. --------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- Low 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 -300 = 1050 or 105 avg. Med. 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 -300 -300 = 1800 or 180 avg. High 500 500 500 500 500 500 100 -300 -300 -300 = 2200 or 220 avg. V. High 800 800 800 800 800 -300 -300 -300 -300 -300 = 2500 or 250 avg. SloppyDogg came up with a quick way to find the averages for a Thief: (Gold gained * % Success) - (Bail * % Failure) = average. So Hanz's average at "high" risk would be: ((600 * 0.65) - (100 * 0.35) == 390 - 35) = 355. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > [DLWLDN] Dual Wielding Analysis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is Dual-wielding really worth it? Depends. Let's start at the beginning. No matter what, you can never ever have more than 5 attacks per round. That is set in stone. The second attack from your "shield" hand can only ever count as 1 attack per round. Doesn't matter about proficiencies (although proficiencies do help determine your THAC0). (Actually you can get above 5 attacks per round using the Improved Haste Spell, which doubles the number of attacks) So, let's say that you are Dual-wielding the Celestial Fury (+3) Katana and Dak'kon's Zerth Blade (+2) Katana. Also, let's say you normally have 3 attacks per round. Assuming you somehow did max dmg. every time, yet no critical hits, your Celestial Fury in a round (6 sec.) would be: (1d10 + 3) * 3 = 39 dmg. Yet you would also get one extra attack with your offhand weapon (at a penalty to THAC0), if you hit with it and did full dmg you would get an extra 12 dmg, which is about 30% more damage. This is just one example. Your offhand weapon will never have as good a THAC0 (to hit) as your normal weapon. With no points devoted to Two Weapon style your offhand gets a -8 penalty to THAC0 and even your main hand is penalized by -4. So, if your normal THAC0 is 18, your new THAC0 will be 22 and your offhand will jump up to 26. (Remember lower THAC0's are better) One point in Two Weapon reduces this to -6 offhand and -2 normal. Two points to -4 offhand. Only fighters can spend 3 points on Two Weapon style (and Swashbucklers and Blades as well), which has the smallest penalty at -2. Note: If you are not proficient with your offhand weapon, you incur the normal penalty to hit (-1) and dmg. (-1) I would recommend becoming proficient in only ONE type of weapon, then using that in both hands. Back to the hypothetical situations. You have a Ranger (rangers automatically get two points in Two Weapon style) using a Long Sword right now. He is currently getting 10 THAC0 (with STR and all other bonuses figured in already). He puts another Long Sword in his shield hand. His main hand stays at 10 THAC0, but his offhand only hits at 14 THAC0. At this point, he has 55% to hit a creature at AC 0 with his main hand, but only 30% to hit with his offhand. (This assumes that you have identical weapons in each hand, else your THAC0's would look different) Let's see what might happen in a few rounds: (again assuming that you always do max damage, no critical hits, and remember that the offhand only attacks ONCE per round) main hand (1d8, 2.5 attacks) offhand (1d8, 1 attack) tot: round 1: hit, 8 dmg. miss 0 8 miss, 0 dmg. -- 0 hit, 4 dmg (the "half") -- 4 --- 12 round 2: hit, 8 dmg. miss 0 8 miss, 0 -- 0 miss, 0 -- 0 --- 8 round 3: hit, 8 dmg. hit, 8 dmg. 16 hit, 8 dmg. -- 8 miss, 0 -- 0 --- 24 R1(12) + R2(8) + R3(24) = 44 dmg. in 3 rounds In three rounds, the offhand managed 8 damage. It only hit the AC 0 target 1 out of 3 times (technically that's above average for it!). So, is Dual-wielding worth it? Yes, but really only if you get 3 stars in the Two Weapon style. It also becomes much better as your THAC0 improves. And never, ever dual wield unless you have at LEAST 2 stars, else your main hand THAC0 is hurt. Jason Cha offers further analysis: Undoubtedly the most important question in whether to dual wield or not has nothing to do with just the extra damage associated with having a second weapon. It has to do with factors such as the tradeoffs between AC and damage, or the extra abilities the second weapon or shield may offer (such as my favorite, dual-wielding Crom Faeyr with Belm +2). ********************************* Take Bill the human thief. He's not too strong, only 9 strength, so no strength bonus on his attacks. He's got the Blade of Roses (longsword +3) and a plain old longsword +1. He's level 10, and has one proficiency slot in longsword and one in two weapon use. He also has one proficiency slot in one handed weapon use. His base THAC0 is 16. Let's assume he's fighting a NPC with AC0. I'll leave the math for below, but just using the Blade of Roses his expected damage per round is 3.75 damage per round. If he's dual wielding the Blade of Roses and the Longsword +1, his expected damage per round is 3.175. So Bill, under these circumstances, is best off just using the Blade of Roses. But suppose Bill gets the Gauntlets of Ogre Strength. The expected damage for just using the Blade of Roses alone is 8.775. On the other hand, dual wielding the Blade and the longsword +1 results in expected damage of 9.05. So here he is better off dual wielding. I haven't sat down to figure out exactly when the advantage turns to dual wielding, whether or not it hinges on just + to hit or + to damage, or some relationship between both. I welcome others to calculate the exact point. Also, this analysis does not include the AC bonus Bill would get with the single weapon use. It's decisions like that, that makes D&D such a rich game and not just numeric power gaming. Also when backstabbing, Bill is clearly better just using a single weapon. And let's not forget the additional powers of weapons (my personal favorite, with a fighter Crom Faeyr for 25 str and the Scimitar of Belm for +1 attack). ************************ Here's the Math as promised Enemy = AC 0 Bill - 9 Str and just the Blade of Roses THAC0 = 13 (16 base - 3 sword) Blade of Roses Average Damage = 7.5 (1d8 + 3) Attack Roll - Damage 20 - 15 19 - 15 18 - 7.5 17 - 7.5 16 - 7.5 15 - 7.5 14 - 7.5 13 - 7.5 12 - MISS Expected Damage = 3.75 (75 (total of possibilities) /20 (any one possibility) ------------------------------ Bill - 9 Str and dualwielding Blade of Roses and Longsword +1 MAIN HAND THAC0 = 15 (16 base - 3 sword + 2 penalty) Blade of Roses Average Damage = 7.5 (1d8 + 3) Attack Roll - Damage 20 - 15 19 - 7.5 18 - 7.5 17 - 7.5 16 - 7.5 15 - 7.5 14 - MISS Expected Damage Main Hand = 2.625 OFF HAND THAC0 = 21 (16 base - 1 sword + 6 penalty) Longsword +1 Average Damage = 5.5 (1d8 +1) Attack Roll - Damage 20 - 11 19 - MISS Expected Damage Off Hand = .55 Total Expected Damage = 3.175 ============================================================ With Gauntlets of Ogre Strength Bill - 18/00 Str and just the Blade of Roses THAC0 = 10 (16 base - 3 sword - 3 str) Blade of Roses Average Damage = 13.5 (1d8 + 3 sword + 6 str) Attack Roll - Damage 20 - 27 19 - 27 18 - 13.5 17 - 13.5 16 - 13.5 15 - 13.5 14 - 13.5 13 - 13.5 12 - 13.5 11 - 13.5 10 - 13.5 9 - MISS Expected Damage = 8.775 ---------------------------------------- With Gauntlets of Ogre Strength and Dual Wielding Bill - 18/00 Str and dualwielding Blade of Roses and Longsword +1 MAIN HAND THAC0 = 12 (16 base - 3 sword - 3 str + 2 penalty) Blade of Roses Average Damage = 13.5 (1d8 + 3 + 6) Attack Roll - Damage 20 - 27 19 - 13.5 18 - 13.5 17 - 13.5 16 - 13.5 15 - 13.5 14 - 13.5 13 - 13.5 12 - 13.5 11 - MISS Expected Damage Main Hand = 6.75 OFF HAND THAC0 = 18 (16 base - 1 sword - 3 str + 6 penalty) Longsword +1 Average Damage = 11.5 (1d8 + 1 + 6) Attack Roll - Damage 20 - 23 19 - 11.5 18 - 11.5 17 - MISS Expected Damage Off Hand = 2.3 Total Expected Damage = 9.05 A statistic analysis using stochastic variables (by /Eathlon) ----------------------------------------------- (Useful notations: pc = chance for critical hit ph = chance for "normal hit" pm = chance for miss These can be trivially calculated as: pc = 0.05 if single wielding with proficiency in single weapon, 0.1 otherwise ph = (19 - THACO + to hit bonuses + enemyAC)/20 if single wielding with proficiency in single weapon ph = (20 - THACO + to hit bonuses + enemyAC)/20 otherwise (this is only valid when the number in the nominator is between 0 and 18, 0 and 17 when single wielding with proficiency, if not ph equals either 0, 0.90 or 0.85 respectively) pm = 1 - ph - pc we will see that in the end we do not need to calculate pm The damage (as a stochastic variable), D, dealt with one attack will be: D = H * X Where H is a stochastic variable I've chosen to call the Hit Multiplier it simply is 2 with probability pc, 1 with probability ph and 0 with probability pm. X is a stochastic variable describing the damage from a "normal hit". X can be divided into one stochastic part and one constant part. The constant part is simply all bonuses to the damage including the weapon's own bonuses and the character's bonuses. The stochastic part of X is simply a stochastic distribution depending on what die (dice) that are rolled to determine the damage dealt. In the future I will call the constant part d and the stochastic part Y. Thus, we can rewrite D as: D = (d + Y)*H The expectation value of D (denoted by E(D)) becomes: E(D) = d*E(H) + E(H)*E(Y) as H and Y are independent stochastic variables. Both E(H) and E(Y) can be calculated trivially. As E(Y) depends on the weapon used I will not give an expression for this but E(H) becomes: E(H) = pc*2 + ph*1 + pm*0 = 2*pc + ph Thus: E(D) = (2*pc + ph)*(d + E(Y)) To achieve the expected damage that a character deals in one round we have to calculate E(D) for the weapons that the character wields and then multiply those by the number of attacks the character does with the respective weapons each round. All this is interesting but we are missing the big picture. It actually doesn't matter if your expected damage dealt is extremely high if your opponent's is ever higher. To make a full analysis we need to divide your expected damage with your opponent's expected damage, if this number is larger than your opponent's hit points divided by your hit points - you will stand a fairly good chance of beating him. This is not the whole truth though. What we also have to take into account is how much D varies, a measurement of this is the standard deviation (denoted by s(D)). These calculations quickly becomes messy and I will satisfy with giving the result in one of the earlier steps: s(D) = sqrt( (4*pc + ph)*E(X^2) - (4*pc^2 + 4*pc*ph + ph)*(E(X))^2 ) (sqrt(x) denotes the square root of x, x^2 denotes x squared) If the standard deviation is large, the damage dealt will vary wildly and who wins the fight will become more random than if the standard deviation is low. If the standard deviation would be zero - you would always win if the damage you're expected to deal divided by the damage your opponent is expected to deal is greater than your opponent's hit points divided by your own. To continue Jason Cha's analysis of Bill: When single wielding, Bill achieves the following constants (not assuming the 9 STR of Bill but assuming the final THAC0 to be t. Taking enemy AC to be denoted by e and Bill's hit bonuses to be h): pc = 0.1 ph = (19 - t + h + e)/ 20 = 0.95 + 0.05*(h + e - t) Assume Bill has n number of attacks per round with single weapon style, we get the following (when supposing Bill is using a longsword (a weapon rolling 1d8 in the damage roll), the weapon's + to damage will be included in d): E(D) = (0.2 + 0.95 + 0.05*(h + e - t))*(d + 4.5) = 1.15*d + 5.175 + (0.05*d + 0.225)*(h + e - t) Expected damage per round = n*(1.15*d + 5.175 + (0.05*d + 0.225)*(h + e - t)) When dual wielding, the constants become: pc = 0.05 ph = 1 + 0.05*(h + e - t) We will suppose the second weapon is also a weapon rolling 1d8. With t' denoting the THAC0 of the second weapon and d' difference in damage bonus between the weapons and assuming the primary weapon is the same as the single wielded weapon, we get: Expected damage per round with primary weapon = n*(1.05*d + 4.725 + (0.05*d + 0.225)*(h + e - t)) Expected damage per round with secondary weapon = 1.05*d + 4.725 + (0.05*(d+d') + 0.225)*(h + e - t') Observe that the term (h + e - t) changes for the primary weapon when changing to dual wield. This results in severe complexity (although it really is trivial) in calculating what values of Bill's hit and damage bonuses that will make dual wielding deal more damage than single wielding per round on average. In the end it comes down to practically all factors such as Bill's proficiencies, his modifications from attributes, what weapons he's using and so on... almost everything counts, just as it should be. As we all can see from the amount of calculations involved (I've not nearly done a full analysis) that making a full analysis would be quite large and that the calculations probably would have to be redone for each fight. So I guess we should just play the game and "get a feeling" for when dual wield pays off. Hey! It's more fun too... =) NOTE: I have not checked all the calculations. If you find something to be incorrect feel free to correct it. Also note that I've got more experience in mathematical statistics than I do in AD&D rules. =) /End Jason Cha's Dual Wield Analysis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C. [CHTSSS] Cheats ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Any of the following cheats may crash your computer, ruin your game, or just make the game less challenging (which is either good or bad). _____________ Item Copying: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This isn't really a cheat, just taking advantage of a quirk with the system. You don't actually have to be playing multiplayer for this to work, it just really helps. You also don't have to be actually playing with anyone else to be playing as multiplayer. One thing to do when you find any item of value would be to: 1. Save the game. 2. Export the Character with the item(s) that you wish to copy. (only works with characters that you have created yourself, such as the main character) 3. Give all of that character's items away, and then click the bottom button (Multiplayer Options), then click the Modify Characters button (only works if there are no enemies around, and you aren't in the middle of casting a spell), and then click on the Character Name to delete the character. 4. Now immediately Import the character back, and you now have 2 of everything that person had. Similarly if you are doing this in a single player, you: 1. Export the Character. 2. Start a new game. 3. At the Character Creation Screen press "Import" and the select your character. 4. To keep all your items, quickly pause when the game starts, then drop all the items on the floor. Pick these up later when you regain control. It is really helpful that when you Export your Character to name him/her something specific, not just "Character1" or something. This is really useful for the ultra-rare items like the Full Plate +1. This also works well if you want to start over, simply export your character, start a new game, and import them there! Export Mage without his Familiar for Maximum HP Profit! (by Mr. C) ------------------------------------------------------- Here's a way to explot the game's mage familiar mechanics to perminantly increase hit points. With this, one doesn't need to worry about rolling a good constitution for a mage (not that we can't just use the control-8 cheat anyway). I should probably note that I'm using Throne of Bhaal expansion and patched to version 2.5.26498. Haven't tried this with any un-patched version of BG2. Should work, though, since the familiar mechanics have mostly remained unchanged in the various patches. Start a game where your main character/protagonist is a kind of mage character you're going to play in a serious game (specialist mage, fighter/mage, mage/thief, etc).. when picking spells, it's actually important to start the game with the find familiar spell this time. I used to avoid starting the game with the spell since you can just get a familiar by using a scroll. But, you can just use potions of genius to allow your character to learn more than their allowed amount of spells, anyway. 1. After the intro with Irenicus and you have control, memorize find familar, rest, then cast find familiar. 2. Export your mage character _without_ the familiar in your backpack (so that when importing your character the game won't see any familiar in your pack). 3. Start a brand new game, importing the mage character in question. You'll notice you still have the original bonus hit points, even though you have no familiar. Since you started a new game, the game's variables for the mage's familiar were 'reset' allowing you to cast find familiar again.. getting more bonus hit points. One could probably exploit this multiple times, but once or twice is probably enough. At least one doesn't need to stress over the constitution statistic too much when making a character like a multi-class fighter/mage. Setting Up the In-Game Cheats: ------------------------------ The cheat features are largely unchanged since the original Baldur's Gate. There are some minor differences, but that is to be expected. To get the cheats activated do these steps: Step One:) Open the game's directory C:Program FilesBlack IsleBGII - SoA Step Two:) Open the Baldur.ini file in notepad. Step Three:) Find the line [Program Options]. Under it are a variety of settings for your game. Add this line: Debug Mode=1 And it must be Debug Mode=1, not debug mode=1 or anything else. Save and close notepad. Step Four:) Now when you are in the game, press CTRL-SPACE to bring up the Console. This is where you will enter all the cheats. Note: When running Vista, either disable UAC, or Run As Administrator. You may also want to consider installing in a different directory than the default. I use D:AppsBG2. Anyone familiar with the original Baldur's Gate cheats will find that the cheats are mostly the same from this point. At any point in the game, press CTRL-SPACE to bring up the console. There you enter in your cheat and press ENTER to execute the cheat. Changing Experience Cheat: -------------------------- In the console window enter this cheat: CLUAConsole:SetCurrentXP(number) Where 'number' is replaced by whatever number of experience points that you wish for the selected party member(s) to have. It can normally go up to 2.95 million. (The Exp Cap can be removed, see the next section "Trainers & Editors for more information) If you had 2000 exp and you set it to 1000 you will actually lose experience, although this has no bearing on your level. Example: CLUAConsole:SetCurrentXP(2950000) Create an Item: --------------- In the console window enter this cheat: CLUAConsole:CreateItem("itemcode",number) There MUST be quotation marks around the itemcode. Sample item codes are "boot01" (boots of speed). Once entered, that character will have that item. The number part of the cheat is NOT NEEDED. And for most cheats you won't want it. But if you want to create 5 potions, simply enter in 5 after the item code to get 5 potions created. (The maximum is 65,536) This also works well for arrows and scrolls. To get the maximum the easy way, use -1. Example: CLUAConsole:CreateItem("potn07",-1) ...would create thousands of potions of Storm Giant strength. If you want some Item Codes check out my Item List (complete with Descriptions) which is located at: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ Create a Monster: ----------------- This works almost exactly like the CreateItem cheat, except you can't create multiple monsters: CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("creaturename") Again a list of monsters can be found at GameSages. At least until I come up with my own list. Cheat Hot Keys: --------------- To activate the Cheat Hot Keys, enter this into the Console: CLUAConsole:EnableCheatKeys() And here are the Hot Keys: CTRL+1 -- change the armor of the paper doll (the armor class doesn't change) CTRL+2 -- fades screen to black CTRL+3 -- fades screen to normal CTRL+4 -- highlight the background-interactive objects CTRL+5 -- ??? CTRL+6 -- shapeshift your character into the previous paper doll in list CTRL+7 -- shapeshift your character into the next paper doll in list CTRL+8 -- highlights the text boxes CTRL+9 -- highlight the sprites CTRL+0 -- ??? CTRL+A -- do a sprite animation (see CTRL+S) CTRL+B -- view last FMV sequence CTRL+C -- jump to next chapter CTRL+D -- display some strange numbers CTRL+F -- turn the character CTRL+I -- random party conversation CTRL+J -- transport onto the position pointed by the cursor CTRL+L -- information on position (same as X) CTRL+M -- (Then press ENTER) DEBUG DUMP CTRL+Q -- Makes the creature at the mouse cursor join the party, works on pretty much anything [from GOOD-ASH, Brian Phillips] CTRL+R -- heals the party member whose portrait your mouse is currently over (doesn't have to be selected) CTRL+S -- select a sprite animation CTRL+T -- Advances the game time by one hour. This has the effect of removing spell effects and such. CTRL+X -- information on position (more) CTRL+Y -- hurts/kills person mouse cursor is over Throne of Bhaal adds a new one: CTRL+H -- Fixes a wild mage to a specific surge, such that every time he casts a spell he gets that surge. Setting the Surge Number to 0 undoes the surge fixing and goes back to normal functioning (or malfunctioning as the case may be). One could be really cheesy if they wanted and keep a wild mage fixed at the "spell cast at normal, all spells refreshed as if rested" and keep the entire spellbook "memorized" off of one Nahal's Reckless Dweomer (since it would always work). All of the advantages of Sorcerers and Wizards rolled into one. Really cheesy, as I said. [from Vash] Note: This affects all magic everywhere, even for enemies, so use at your own risk. CTRL+I -- Invokes a random party conversation. Quite useful if you play "fast" and wouldn't otherwise hear all the funny dialogues. Especially Imoen's and Jan's...) This can be used to speed up Sarevok's "conversion" to Chaotic Good, too. (Corvus Albus) Other Codes: ------------ CLUAConsole:AddGold(number) CLUAConsole:ExploreArea() CLUAConsole:MoveToArea("ARXXXX") The area code MUST appear in quotes. Just replace the XXXX with whatever the area number is where you want to be. For example, to teleport to the Government District in Athkatla you would do: CLUAConsole:MoveToArea("AR1000") And you would be teleported there. This allows you to go back to any otherwise inaccessible area, but beware of ill side effects! CLUAConsole:SetWeather(#) -- Use one of the following 3 settings: 0 - No Weather 1 - Rain 2 - Snow Item Codes: ----------- The "short" item list has been removed to reduce the size of the FAQ. You can find it at the beginning of my item list, which is at http://www.gamefaqs.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. [TRNRSN] Trainers and Editors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would recommend that you play through the game at least once without cheating. Most of the fun in games comes from the challenge, and if you make a SUPER party, then there isn't much challenge. As always most everything here can be found at: http://www.teambg.eu/ Right now there are two major Rules Fixes and a Beta Character Editor. The two rules fixes are an EXPERIENCE CAP REMOVER -- for when that 2.95 million just seems too low -- and a fix for the Grand Mastery proficiency level, which adds an extra attack at that level. Another program -- the save game editor, Shadowkeeper -- is available here: http://www.mud-master.com/shadowkeeper/index.html This allows you to directly edit most everything directly from the Save Game, which is a little more versatile than a mere character editor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E. [MNLCRR] Manual Corrections & Addendums ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While looking through the manual, impressive as it is, I found quite a number of errors. Page 101, Specialization: ------------------------- Looking at the Specialization chart on page 101, one might get the idea that the proficiency system was completely nerfed from BG. Well it was only partly nerfed. Here is the accurate chart: points spent to hit bonus damage bonus attacks 1 (Proficient) 0 0 1 2 (Specialized) +1 +2 3/2 3 (Master) +2 +2 3/2 4 (High Master)* +2 +3 3/2 5 (Grand Master) +2 +4 3/2 * Improves weapon speed. This gives you an extra +1 damage at High Master. Although if you installed TeamBG's weapon specialization "fix" it will restore this chart to what it was in BG: points spent to hit bonus damage bonus attacks 1 (Proficient) 0 0 1 2 (Specialized) +1 +2 3/2 3 (Master) +3 +3 3/2 4 (High Master) +3 +4 3/2 5 (Grand Master) +3 +5 2 This can be downloaded from http://www.teambg.eu/ Sorcerer Spell Charts: [from Mark Darrah, Bioware] -------------------------------------------------- Number of Spell Levels that can be CAST per day: Spell Level Char Lvl 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ------------------------------------- 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 6 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 6 6 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 9 6 6 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 10 6 6 6 5 3 0 0 0 0 11 6 6 6 6 4 0 0 0 0 12 6 6 6 6 5 3 0 0 0 13 6 6 6 6 6 4 0 0 0 14 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 0 0 15 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 0 0 16 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 0 17 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 0 18 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 19 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 20 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 Number of Spells per Level that can be KNOWN: Spell Level Char Lvl 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ------------------------------------- 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 5 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 5 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 11 5 5 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 12 5 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 13 5 5 4 4 3 2 0 0 0 14 5 5 4 4 3 2 1 0 0 15 5 5 4 4 4 3 2 0 0 16 5 5 4 4 4 3 2 1 0 17 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 0 18 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 1 19 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 20 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 (thanks to Kevin Logan for sending this in) Page 232, 234, Thieving Skill Base Scores, Bard Abilities --------------------------------------------------------- Not really a mistake, but "Climb Walls", "Detect Noise" and "Read Languages" are not implemented in Baldur's Gate II, so they needn't be mentioned in the manual. The "Base Scores" for thieving skills should be as follows: Pick Pockets 15 Open Locks 10 Find Traps 5 Move Silently 10 Hide in Shadows 5 Detect Illusion 0 Set Traps 0 Also, the Thieving Skill Racial Adjustments should include "Detect Illusion" and "Set Traps". Here is the completed table: Skill Dwarf Elf Gnome Half-Elf Halfling ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pick Pockets -- +5 -- +10 +5 Open Locks +10 -5 +5 -- +5 Find/Remove Traps +15 -- +10 -- +5 Move Silently -- +5 +5 -- +10 Hide in Shadows -- +10 +5 +5 +15 Detect Illusion +5 -- +10 -- -- Set Traps +10 -- +5 -- -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Total ==> +40 +15 +40 +15 +40 On the next page comes the Thieving Skill Dexterity Bonuses, which should be extended to DEX of 25: Pick Open Find Move Hide in Set DEX Pockets Locks Traps Silently Shadows Traps --------------------------------------------------------------- 9 -15 -10 -10 -20 -10 -10 10 -10 -5 -10 -15 -5 -10 11 -5 0 -5 -10 0 -5 12 0 0 0 -5 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 5 0 0 0 0 17 5 10 0 5 5 0 18 10 15 5 10 10 5 19 15 20 10 15 15 10 20 20 25 15 18 18 15 21 25 30 20 20 20 20 22 30 35 25 23 23 25 23 35 40 30 25 25 30 24 40 45 35 30 30 35 25 45 50 40 35 35 40 Page 238, Upgrading Reputation in a Temple ------------------------------------------ The costs for upgrading your reputation is incorrect at 13 and 14. Right now it reads "200" and "500" respectively, when it should read "1200" and "1500". Here is the revised chart: Cost Reputation Level ---------|---------------------------- 1500 | 1 1200 | 2 1000 | 3 1000 | 4 500 | 5 400 | 6 200 | 7 300 | 8 400 | 9 500 | 10 700 | 11 900 | 12 1200 | 13 1500 | 14 2000 | 15 2500 | 16 5000 | 17 -- | 18 -- | 19 -- | 20 Page 89, Thief -------------- The thief gets 25 points per level to spend on Thieving abilities, not 20 as the manual states. Page 99, Find Traps ------------------- In my BG2 manual I found that on page 99 that Volo says "You should always be on the watch for traps in dundeons" It is right after Find Traps under Special Abilities. Should be "dungeons." [from ?????] Page 93, Fighter/Mage/Thief --------------------------- In the manual's description for the Fighter/Mage/Thief multiclass it says that: "They cannot use their thieving skills while wearing studded leather" which is untrue. They cannot use their thieving skills while wearing anything MORE than studded leather. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F. [BGSZS1] Bugs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A pretty comprehensive buglist/bugfixlist can be found here: http://www.baldurdash.org/ I've experience a lot of crashes, usually when I QuickSave. [not so much now with the patch installed] For some reason when I try to rest in an Inn it will first say "cannot rest", even though the "Peasant" room is already selected. Then if I click on "Peasant" again it will then let me rest. Sometimes when my computer is restarted, BGII will "forget" that it exists and make me uninstall and reinstall it. This happens when the hard drive is defragmented and the computer is restarted. Very annoying. [Fixed with the patch.] Ever notice how strange the Sensate Amulet is? I had one character using that and the Ioun Stone that adds HP. Which means that that person should gain about +10% HP. However, when I equip the amulet first and then the Ioun Stone, I only got 5%, but if I de-equipped the amulet and re-equipped it, not only did I get the 10% but it healed the difference. Which means that I could use it to heal a character. Throne of Bhaal adds a new bug: While fighting the City Gates Lich, I decided to pull him out into the inn where I could lay traps for him to get killed by. This is all well and good (having killed the lich), but when I entered his crypt to gather his treasures, there he was, back and ready for more. In fact, as long as I kept leaving the crypt with him following me out he would continue to respawn inside the crypt. In other words, I could fight an unlimited battle with the lich! I believe that this bug works with any battle where you have the enemy follow you to a new area, but haven't tested it. Note: This is fixed in the ToB patch. Jae Jung had some bugs: 1. Aerie dies (!) on random rests, loads or movement between areas. I don't know if this is a bug or intended. I'd load up, hear a death sound and the information bar would state "Aerie - Death". This has happened twice, once on load and once when moving OUT of Irenicus' dungeon. The second time, I hadn't even begun the Circus quest (obviously). Ideas? 2. I don't have a manual on me so this may not be a bug at all. My characters sometimes (quite often actually, hence I don't think it's a bug) have their strength reduced to a meagre 2. I cannot restore that value either through temples or rest. There's no level drain icon either. It usually happens after equipping certain weapons with bonuses, but reading the weapon information gives no data about such reductions in your strength. It has happened once in Irenicus' dungeon (with Imoen) and is happening a lot (my specialist Thief especially and specialist Conjurer) while I'm looking for quests outside. Ideas again? Curtis Withers had more problems with Aerie: While I was resting in that area of the sewers with all the Mind Flayers, Aerie and Anomen started up a conversation, which resulted in Anomen turning Chaotic Neutral and attacking Aerie. I interfered and killed Anomen before he could finish Aerie off, but after that point Arie would not walk to a location without constant prodding, and would not pick up items anymore. It became really annoying, as you would be in the heat of battle and Aerie would be half a screen behind. I eventaully had to boot her out of the party in favour of Jan Janssen. I have had no similar problems with any other NPC. Editor's Note: This conversation thread happens ONLY after Anomen has FAILED his knight's test. If he passes the test, it won't happen. Geoff Ulreich found a weapon inconsistency: The Sun Sword (supposedly +2/+4 vs. evil creatures) will not hit the demilich as far as I can tell, yet the +4 dagger will. In AD&D (second edition), the +4 change should apply to what it can hit as well as THACO. Geoff also found a Magic Resistance bug: Magic resistance items don't 'stack' correctly. Only one of multiple MR items placed on your character will affect them. I tried placing the Ring of Gaxx (10% MR) on my Holy Avenger(50% MR)-wielding paladin and at first his MR showed as 60% on the character record screen. Soon after (I think after either saving or moving to a new area) his magic resistance dropped to 50% again, until the ring was removed and put back on. What a pain. P.K. came up with this script bug: By the way I noticed a small bug in BG2. I gave the "Trap detecting" script to the thief (Is it called Thief Adventurer Script ?), and when I dualled to mage, I forgot to change the script, but guess what... the Mage/Thief kept detecting traps even though the Thief class was inactive! Editor's Note: Technically this script works for ANYONE, even those who have no "find traps" ability. If the trap is a 0 level trap, they can even detect it. (Not too likely, but still) Alexander Ferguson found a few: I wanted to report a possible Bug I have found with the some of the various Books that upgrade abilities. (Tome of Clear Thought, etc.) On my system, only some of the books are actually usable. The others can not be placed into the QuickSlots for use. They fail with the message "Wrong Item Type". In addition, when you pick them up to move them into the QuickSlot, the QuickSlot does not highlight, as it does with the usable ones. I have noted below the status that I have found with them. ====== Works Properly - BOOK03 - Manual of Bodily Health +1 Con Works Properly - BOOK04 - Manual of Gainful Exercise +1 Str Works Properly - BOOK05 - Manual of Quickness of Action +1 Dex NOTE: When Picked up, it changes to a scroll icon, and then back to a book Works Properly - BOOK06 - Tome of Clear Thought +1 Int FAILS - BOOK07 - Tome of Leadership and Influence +1 Chr FAILS - BOOK08 - Tome of Understanding +1 Wis Braden found the way around this: To use Tomes of Wisdom, or Charisma, or other ones that may not work, simply place one crappy healing potion, and the appropriate IDed tome, into the less-than insightful, weak, dumb clumsy, far from amiable, or frail character. If in MP mode, pause the game, if in SP mode, not an issue. Open the inventory, from a personal items slot, drink a potion by right clicking on it and click Quaff/Drink (ensure that the same kind of potion DOES NOT exist in your quick items also), switch the Tome with the potion (pick up the book, put it down on top of potion, put potion elsewhere). Return to game, unpause if needed. Wait. Viola, you now bite less. This method can probably be adapted to activate any item that has an effect targeted on the caster. ====== Only ONE Bag of Holding, Gems, Scrolls Bug: I also found another bug > about the various bags in a most strange way. There is only ONE container of each type. Thus if you have (2) bags of holding; any item placed into the 1st, appears in the 2nd, and vice versa. I found this one out when my 1st bag was full of stuff, and I started to dump stuff into the 2nd bag. It filled up in no time, and when I checked into the bag, a bunch of the "lower level" stuff from the 1st bag was gone, and the inventories of both bags were identical. Editor's Note: If you think this sounds like a method for duplicating items, think again. An item taken out of one bag is also removed from the other. Even if they are in separate people in the party... it works across people; just like the shopkeeper interface. Other Mistakes: --------------- In the Paladin Quest you are told that an artifact lies in the hands of "geat evil". Heh. When Jon Irenicus is being held by the cowled wizards he tells Imoen to be quiet to let the "fool make his judgement", however it should be spelled as "judgment." A lot of people have emailed me about this one, saying that judgement is just as valid as judgment. This is probably one of those cases where a misspelling was so common that it became a valid spelling. David Lyons refutes that argument: Judgement (Middle English, from Old French 'Jugement') is the correct primary spelling. Judgment, however, is also valid, but if a persistent misspelling occurred, it was in the omission of the first 'e'. Unless you're American, of course, in which case it may well be the other way around (this was my first thought, but then, you spell theatre as, well, 'theatre' and not 'theater' throughout the FAQ). This is supported by the large amount of anglo-centric slang in the dialogue (mainly in the insults), e.g. 'Arse' and not 'Ass', which sneaks me to the suspicion it may have been compiled by a stray Brit at Bioware. When Baron Ployer is about to curse Jaheira, he disdains the Hero by saying that "Khalid was a better compliment," when he should have used "complement." Compliment is a Praise (ie "you look pretty") while Complement means that one thing completes another or goes well with. In one of Viconia's Romances, she mentions that her sisters are "more of a danger and a rival then the next," when it should be "than the next." In another of Viconia's romances, she says: "My mother wished me to recant, to prostate myself before the Spider Queen and beg forgiveness." This should have been "prostrate", the missing "r" gives it a whole new meaning. [from Cyrille Artho] If you attempt to leave the Underdark without doing the Silver Dragon quests, while still disguised as a Drow, the guards will stop you and tell you to go back, to which you can say "we will offer a significan increase..." They left off the 't' in "significant." In a conversation between Keldorn and Aerie, Keldorn tells Aerie: "Wrong? No, to some you be the ideal." Should be "you are the ideal." Spelling mistake: While you're searching for the artifacts in Suldanessellar, if you attempt to pick the lock of the Castle door, it will say this: "....Them temple of Rillifane may hold the key" instead of THE temple. [from Cornelius Chesterfield] Spelling mistake: When the Guardian Telwyn (Temple of Helm) gives you the Sir Sarles quest, the character writes in his journal that he needs 200 pounds of "illuthium" instead of illithium. [from Snark] Grammar mistake: In Brynnlaw when you pay Calahan for Ginia and Ason's passage he says, "There passage is assured" when it should be "Their passage is assured." [from John Jung] In the bard stronghold, if you speak to the players the first time you are able to, one of them will say "out rehearsal" instead of "our rehearsal". [from Xander77] During your first moment of weakness, after Irenicus took your soul, if Jan is the one you talk to, he says "upsidedown" instead of "upside down". [from Xander77] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G. [STRNGT] Strange Things ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About "Temple District - The Guarded Compound", I've seen this referred to as the Slave Lord's Headquarters in a few forums. That name may come from something that was planned but never made the official game, since there's nothing in the place ties its inhabitants to the slavers. Or is there? Two of the inhabitants are a male priest named Stalman and a female thief named Ketta. Interestingly, back in the old AD&D "Scouge of the Slavelords" module, two of the Slavelords you go up against are a male priest named Stalman Klim and a female thief named Slippery Ketta. [from zambkptkn] Near the Circus is a cage with a Moose... and a Squirrel. Rocky and Bullwinkle, anyone? (many, many people sent this in) Create an Elf and name him Drizzt. Then by Chapter 6 have a reputation less than 12. When you bump into Drizzt... he is annoyed that you swiped his name! Sure, he fights you for his name's honor, but it sure is funny. Also if you imported from Baldur's Gate and had any of Drizzt's Items on you, then Drizzt will be very upset when he meets up with you. He won't necessarily fight you, but it could lead to that (anyone who is GOOD in your party won't assist you, though). In the back of the Adventurer's Mart are two paintings. Look at them closely and also click on them. Recognize them? They are taken from the old Dungeons and Dragons cartoon! There's also a picture of Elvis on the second floor of the Five Flagons. (again many people sent this one in) Fearghus (Waukeen's Promenade) is the name of the Black Isle division director. There is a commoner named "Neeber" in Trademeet who constantly pesters you with inane questions and comments. Just like a certain "Noober" used to do in the first game. Biff the Understudy (in the really awful theatre play) is the character that would appear in Baldur's Gate when the regular character could not appear. (i.e. if that character was dead, but still had something to say) Ask the barkeeper in Imnesvale about the Umar Witch and he'll give you a book titled "The Umar Witch Project." The Knights of Solamnia in the Planar Sphere are from Dragonlance. There's another, bit more obscure AD&D reference in the Planar Sphere...the halflings. Took me a bit to place them, but the cracked dry earth and the village built from bones...those are feral halflings from the old Dark Sun setting. (Bill Ray) One of Edwin's plots goes awry leaving him in the form of a woman. Jaheira mocks, Anomen pretends to want to champion "Edwina", and so forth. Then take "Edwina" to see Silvanus at the Copper Coronet (the Elf by the counter), who will be quite attracted to Edwin. And Edwin is ALMOST attracted to Silvanus as well! Not only that, but Bioware did up an entire FEMALE voice set for "Edwina" as well! Hilarious! Cyrando the Gnome romantic (at the Temple District at night) provides the words for Garrick to woo a woman with. Just like Cyrano the Big Nosed Romantic of literary fame. There are actually 4 little mini-events attached to this one that take place over time. Eventually Cyrando and the Lady get married and Garrick runs away with one of the bridesmaids. One of the Sentient Sword's battle cries is: "Murder! Death! Kill!!", which is the term for a homicide from the movie, Demolition Man. Also a reference to the game MDK... MurderDeathKill. Get it? In the Bridge section where the Five Flagon is located, there are a pair of thugs that fight each other for the love of a girl named Bubbles. Their names are Shank and Carbos. If their name is familiar, it's because they were in Baldur's Gate. They were the thugs that tried to kill you in Candlekeep. They hid inside houses. I'm pretty sure it's them since they have a lot of trouble hitting each other. I've spent a minute or 2 watching them trying to kill each other without any success. It doesn't seem to affect the game in anyway, but it's funny to see. [from Death Crow] In the Asylum, one of the mages gives you a worthless scroll (memo) that says that that the scroll is worthless, that it is indecipherable and that it is most likely the ravings of a madman. Anyways, the scroll is decipherable although not within the game though. The text of the scroll says: "Qc terxepssrw evi jypp sj aiewipw. Mrjsvg xli Uyiir, ws xlex wli qmklx wlss xliq eaec. Livi ai ks ' vsyrh xli qypfivvc fywl. Ks qsioic KS!" This translates into: "My pantaloons are full of weasels. Inform the queen, so that she might shoo them away. Here we go 'round the mulberry bush. Go monkey GO!" [from Hector E. Meza] In Chapter 4, in Spellhold, Aphril (sp?) talks of seeing a walking corpse talking to a pillar of skulls. References to Planescape: Torment, the hero, the Nameless One, who'll just wake up within minutes of dying. [from Matri] Contributing to your list of Easter Eggs, on the top floor of the Five Flagons there are what appear to be Elvis pictures on the far wall, and guitars on other walls on the same floor. [from Per Jorner] Here's one: William Reirrac's last name is "carrier" backwards. While it's likely intentional, it's not necessarily a reference or a pun (people make up fantasy names in the strangest ways). [from Per Jorner] The vampire named Durst is possibly a German pun - Durst is the German word for "thirst", and definitely a good name for a vampire to have. Then again, I accidentally named a character "Darsteller" (actor in German) without thinking about it, so perhaps it's not intentional. [from Brian Camley] Rob DeCaire sent in this one: Here's a "strange thing" that I didn't notice in the FAQ, but I thought was a pretty good joke. In the Vulgar Monkey tavern in Brynnlaw, there's a pirate named "Pirate Newf". If you talk to him, he sings a little shanty that goes: "I'se th' b'y that builds the boat And I'se th' b'y who sails 'er And I'se th' b'y that catches th' fish And brings 'em home to Liza" This is a joke for all the Canadians in the audience, since it's a fairly well-known song from Newfoundland, sung by a character named Newf. Voreth has some "Strange Things": CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("Boo") creates Boo (and we all know who Boo is). CTRL+Q him to add him to your party. He's very powerful, and even has his own paper doll. To keep him effective, don't equip any weapons in any slots, and DO NOT LEVEL HIM UP! (requires the EnableCheatKeys() cheat to be active) CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("Gorion") is fun, though it does require you to exit your game once it works. If you create Gorion, talk to him and choose a few of the dialogue choices (it's keyed to a different dialogue, so you'll see some pretty weird, including NPC, dialogues). He'll bring you through the BG sequence with him (bringing you over, casting Cure Light Wounds, etc.) and bring you to a forest (area number is the same as circle of stones in BG). There, you get stuck on a tree. Too bad. I wonder if Sarevok would have appeared and all. Oh, and the BG loading screen appears in front of the BG2 one, though off center and much smaller. (Note: I've only tried this in the Docks, so if you try it somewhere else and get different results, don't be alarmed...) You can also create Kivan, from what I've seen, though he doesn't say anything, his dialogues are bad, and he says what he should say on the bottom of the screen. Still, it's pretty fun. You can do this with Drizzt too, and get him to say some of Korgan's (voice acted) lines. So you have a Drizzt with a Scottish accent who says "Cure Disease" at the end of his dialogue. Answer his first question with the description of Summon Monster I for the rest of Korgan's dialogue. Xander77 found something interesting: If you use CLUAConsole to teleport to AR2700 (Only works in SoA) you will find the remains of an unfinished test - an area with giant heads (not the one you find Illasera in) which force you to do battle with a slayer to get a terrifying sword. You can get the sword with CLUAConsole:CreateItem("Killsw01") - It's sort of like PST's Eviscerator NPC's from Baldur's Gate found in BG2 (but who don't join): SPOILERS Ajantis (killed at Windspear Hills by you, identified by Keldorn) Coran (can be killed by Safana in chapter 6, or becomes a drunk) Faldorn (seizes control of the Druid Grove, killed by you to free it) Garrick (attempts to woo a woman, but fails) Khalid (found dead in Irenicus' Dungeon) Montaron (killed by the Harper's for breaking into their compound) Quayle (currently alive and well and running a circus) Safana (killed by Lanfear in chapter 6 after she attempts to kill you) Tiax (locked away in Spellhold, helps the main character beat Irenicus, dies in the attempt) Xzar (killed by a Harper assassin at the docks) Tutorial Branwen Xan =============================================================================== < < < < < [FNLWRD] Final Words.... > > > > > =============================================================================== This FAQ was written entirely using the GWD Text Editor: (shareware) http://www.gwdsoft.com/ This FAQ was then updated using Notepad++: http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm Spiffy Links: Planet Baldur's Gate -- http://www.planetbaldursgate.com/ TeamBG -- http://www.teambg.eu/ GameFAQs -- http://www.gamefaqs.com/ Baldurdash -- http://www.baldurdash.org/ Fantasy Name Generator -- http://spitfire.ausys.se/johan/names/default.htm Portrait Sites: Kirith -- http://www.kirith.com/ Havak's -- http://havak.db-forge.com/index.php _________________________ Special Thanks: (Credits) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ /Eathlon for the mathematical way of looking at dual wielding Accord for the "keep Yoshimo" trick Adar for several strategies Alan Cherry for a bit on romances and the Temple Ruins Aleph for an interesting twist to my "Fake Talk" strategy (stealing) Alessio Ronchi for a really neat Cromwell trick Alexander Ferguson for some bugs Alexcool for an update on the Hendak quest Alex Malano for the mage scroll trick Andrea Nicoli for the limited Wish trick Andrew Scarvell for an interesting alternative for the Selfish Tear ANDY for a list of different abilities at the end of the game Andy Kahn Ard for his improved method on getting the Selfish Tear Bioware for making such a great game! Blackhawk for details on Edwin's quest Boogie for the additional rewards for the Sir Sarles Quest Brad Beacham for picking a chicken's pocket for a second Beljuril Braden for an interesting Dragon strategy and a Tome idea Brian Brus for the trick on creating a character with all 18 stats Brian Camley for various helps and tips Brock Meyer Carl Pettersson Carl Wear Chris Emery for a better way to uncurse Jaheira Chris Norman for the alternative way to keep the Drow items CJayC for posting this FAQ Clayton for his Shopthrifting strategy Cornelius Chesterfield for a trick and some stuff Corvus Albus for a new CTRL cheat key Craig Gibbens for a better way to find the Skinner of the Bridge District CY Lee for his infinite Fire Giant trick Cyrille Artho for his different way to deal with Aboleth, the fish Daniel Pang for an evil alternative to the Drow Eggs quest Dave Loveland for various Throne of Bhaal additions David Haire for some additions David Lyons for a lot of small tips, and another pro-judgement article David Weldon for a Stealing Strategy Death Crow for the new special ability charts Dominic for his Evil Method of Druid Removal Doug Scheurich for correcting a ToB mistake Dranyth for discovering that Mordenkainen's Sword has a Greenstone Amulet Edward Adams for a reputation note on the Tanner Murders & more on Wellyn Gabriel for a spiffy trick to keeping Drow items in daylight Gareth Embrey Geoff Ulreich for a whole lot of things (party making strategies, battles) Grack for the multiplayer as single player trick Greymane for a Golem fighting trick Gunslinger for some pickpocketing info Harry Smith for the Familiar Frequently Asked Question Hatchedcross Hector E. Meza for a strange thing in the Asylum Henning Roes for several notable tricks (Planar Sphere and the Burial Mask) Jafar Sadeq for many tricks and tips James Prieels for several contributions James Victor for a Mind Flayer strategy Jason Cha for the Dual Wield analysis Jayhc for a party creating strategy Jeremy Hanson for killing the Chromatic Demon Jeremy Treanor for a couple of battle strategies John Howard for a note on the Soul Gem, and the Bonus Merchants John Knudson for the Wilfred the Red quest John Welch John Winkleman for information on removing spell protections Jonathan Zimmerman for another Mind Flayer strategy JP for his Cowled Wizards fighting thing jsaving Juky & 649 of 711 for the better Snares strategy Ken Adams for a couple of cheats and a tip Ken Baker (Founder of TeamBG) for making some of the best BG & IWD Utilities Kevin Chung for confirming that the Store recharge thing works Kevin Horan Kevin Logan for the Sorcerer Spell Charts Khadgar for getting out of the Underdark Konstantin for a battle strategy in the Watcher's Keep Lani Weaver Lucas had a better way to deal with the Unseeing Eye Marc Oliver for a Frequently Asked Question Matri for the Nameless One Strange Thing Max Chen for more information on Jaheira's Curse (and how to upgrade the Silver Horn) Michael Schneider Miguel for some romance information Mike O for his Fire healing trick Mishael for the Mind Flayer strategy Moby for getting evil-doers to join a rep above 18 party Mr. C Nick McIsaac for the Evil Note on the Firkraag quest Nolan Wright Paul Dickinson for bunches of stuff P.K. for a party making strategy and a bug Per Jorner for a million little tips and corrections Pieter Spronck for sending in the method of adding the Bonus Merchants Phobia for the Invisible Door Blocker Strategy Rabbit for the 8 Stronghold Cheat Rakhiir for a Mind Flayer lair tip RCL for a great many strategies RedCodeKevin Redd Barren for the alternative way to do the Spellhold test Rick Harder had a better way to kill Neb (by NOT killing the spirits) ROB for the Monks wearing Keldorn's Armor trick Robert Pay for confirming that the 2 stronghold trick works Rolander for a lot of strategies all over Ryan Brady who discovered that a trick to allow anyone to have a familiar Sarina noted that the Statue in the Unseeing area had a scroll Sergio Le Roux for the FINAL Glaicas solution ShirouKyoji for a way to the Kobold Shaman's Staff (Sentient Sword), etc. Skithee SloppyDogg for fixing my Thieves Guild numbers Snark for the Gloves of Pickpocketing Sonia Souma for an Evil Abilities strategy SpookyScarecrow for a trick on NOT fighting the De'Arnise golems Steotia for the Ribald's Ring of Regeneration thing Taganath for the locations of most of the item pieces Tetrazome for an addition to the Samia quest Teun Dupont The Maxx Tim Lou for a different way to free Hendak Tim Marshal for the defensive spin trick Timy Gadeholt Travis Archer for noting that you get 2000 exp if you repay Jan's jailer Vash for the two strongholds trick Vladislav Brkic for the Mazzy/Gorf quest Wai Chu Yu for the better way to solve the Spellhold trials Willis Su for a better Set Traps strategy Xander77 for a great many tips and strategies Xar for his many tips and tricks zambkptkn Anyone who emails me with nice things to say, you are appreciated! _________________________ Shameless Self Promotion: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ I am Dan Simpson (dsimpson.faqs@gmail.com) and have also written FAQs for: NES: Disney Adventures in the Magic Kingdom Final Fantasy -- Magic FAQ The Legend of Zelda SNES: Aerobiz Aerobiz Supersonic Utopia: Creation of a Nation Genesis: StarFlight PSX: Thousand Arms -- Walkthrough -- Forging/Dating FAQ PS2: Madden NFL 2001 XBOX: Star Wars: KotOR II: The Sith Lords -- FAQ/Walkthrough -- Influence Guide PC: AD&D Rules FAQ, 2nd and 3rd Editions Baldur's Gate & Tales of the Sword Coast -- FAQ/Walkthrough NPC List Creature List Baldur's Gate II & Throne of Bhaal -- FAQ/Walkthrough -- Items List -- Class FAQ -- Creature List Civilization III (incomplete) Colonization -- the Single Colony Strategy Guide -- the Cheat Guide Drakan: Order of the Flame Dungeon Hack Icewind Dale & Heart of Winter -- FAQ/Walkthrough Items List Kresselack's Tomb Map (JPG) Burial Isle Map (JPG) Shattered Hand Map (JPG) Icewind Dale II -- Items List Master of Magic (revision) Messiah Pharaoh (currently being edited by Red Phoenix) Planescape: Torment -- FAQ/Walkthrough Items Listing Rollercoaster Tycoon Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri The Sims Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar Ultima 7: The Black Gate Ultima 7 Part 2: Serpent Isle Ultima Underworld -- Keyboard Commands Ultima Underworld II -- Keyboard Commands -- Spell List All of my FAQs can be found at: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/2203.html ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ________________ Version History: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Version 0.1 September 30, 2000 78k Versions 0.2 to 5.5 were removed to save space... Version 6.0 June 28, 2001 830k Finished the Throne of Bhaal walkthrough. Fixed the Upgraded Familiars to be more accurate. I had somehow missed something (Imix and the Ravager +4) so those were added. My comprehensive Item List is now updated to include all the Throne of Bhaal items, you can find it at http://www.gamefaqs.com/ Also, there is now a BETA patch for ToB. If you're having trouble, I would suggest installing it (see the Notes above). Version 6.1 June 29, 2001 830k Added the location of the Darkfire Bow (thanks to Dave Loveland). Version 6.2 July 2, 2001 832k Added a way to kill Fire Giants forever (in the Saradush section, thanks to CY Lee). Version 6.3 July 3, 2001 833k Added the new cheat command that deals with Wild Mages and their wild surges (from Vash). Version 6.4 July 6, 2001 836k Various small updates all over. Version 6.45 July 8, 2001 839k Changed the phrasing of some things, and corrected some minor errors. Version 6.5 July 11, 2001 837k Added a new "Demogorgon Guardians" battle strategy from Konstantin. Lots and lots of edits. Version 6.55 July 18, 2001 839k Jeremy Hanson had a way to kill the Chromatic Demon pretty easily. Baldurdash has some interesting files for Throne of Bhaal, these are now added (http://www.baldurdash.org/). Version 7.0 December 10, 2001 848k After a very long break, finally updated this FAQ once more. Went through my emails and added most everything I was sent. Also updated some of the information in the Notes section above to include a link to the Darkest Day (unofficial mod) and Ascension (another unofficial mod). Version 7.1 January 18, 2002 848k Included a link to Suburban Mod's The Darkest Day walkthrough, which can be found in the above Notes section. Version 8.0 September 10, 2002 876k Added proficiencies to the Companions section. Added information on some of the summoned monsters (see the end of the Ranger Stronghold). Created some new Spell strategies for Larloch's Minor Drain and Draw Upon Holy Might (In the Gameplay Strategies section). Added some neat tricks from Xander77 (in Gameplay Strategies and Monster Fighting Strategies). Added a new Infinite Exp Bug from wvfoos (Tiris and Raissa in the Trademeet section). Added a link to the Kelsey romance (in Notes above). Version 8.1 February 5, 2003 884k Sorted out the Monster Fighting Strategies into multiple sections. Many, many edits and corrections all over the place. Added Alessio Ronchi's neat Cromwell trick. Added some new tips and tricks from Xar. Added Andrew Scarvell's neat trick for the Selfish Tear. Fixed the Baldurdash link (it is now at http://www.baldurdash.org/) Version 8.2 February 10, 2003 892k Added more strategies and secrets from Xander77. Version 8.3 February 19, 2003 896k Added the ForgottenWars unofficial add-ons to the Notes section. Added two notes from John Howard, one on an easy way to get the "bonus" merchants (in the Introduction) the other on the Underdark Soul Gem. Added a topic in general strategies on magic weapons. Version 8.4 December 22, 2004 902k Edited the Mod information and gave it a new section to call home. Reorganized somewhat, edited somewhat and added some stuff here and there. Added TOB information to the kits section. Version 8.5 January 17, 2005 902k Changed my email address. Version 8.51 April 23, 2009 904k Added the CTRL-F codes to the table of contents. Some other small edits. More updates shortly. Version 8.6 April 27, 2009 931k Moved the Frequently Asked Questions to just before the walkthrough. Added some notes on Vista & Cheats. Removed the special thanks from the Notes above, it was looking like a big blob of names. The full special thanks can still be found at the end of the guide. Added a bunch of new FAQs based on questions I've been asked. Added lots of notes from various people as well. Version 8.7 April 28, 2009 942k Added some new notes from jsaving on Jaheira, creating a character to balance your party, and a mephit trick in the starting dungeon. Per his advice also wrote up a bit more on dual- multi-classing in the character creation section. Updated Kangaxx to include more ways to take him out. Replaced the Baldurdash fixpack with the Gibberlings 3 fixpack. Added the Ring of Lock picks in the docks section from Skithee. Version 8.71 May 6, 2009 942k Added a new FAQ. Other small changes and edits. Version 8.72 May 18, 2009 942k Some very minor edits. ________ Stinger: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Viconia: Minsc, that tattoo on your face. Does it have tribal significance or did some nursery's fingerpainting class assault you with the blue pastels? Minsc: I do not like the tone of your voice, Dark Elf. The face I have is the face the ladies love! Boo loves Minsc's face, too! Don't you, Boo? _______________________________________________________________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This Document is Copyright 2000-2009 by Dan Simpson Baldur's Gate II is Copyright 2000 by Bioware/Black Isle/Interplay Throne of Bhaal is Copyright 2001 by Bioware/Black Isle/Interplay I am not affiliated with Bioware, Black Isle, Interplay or anyone who had anything to do with the creation of this game. This FAQ may be posted on any site so long as NOTHING IS CHANGED and you EMAIL ME telling me that you are posting it. You may not charge for, or in any way profit from this FAQ.